Revised as of
19 Jan 2023
NOTE: While more and most are definitely part of this pair of word confusions, I’m going to ignore them in examining important and importantly. It’s just too wordy!
This was a fascinating — and confusing — bit of research with dictionaries and grammarians having opposing arguments on the difference between important and importantly. Whew. Some argued that important was all wrong while others argued the reverse.
The Oxford Dictionary and Merriam-Webster did, however, both agree that the combined phrase(s) — more/most important and more/most importantly — were sentential, i.e., the phrase affected the whole sentence.
Much like frankly or evidently (as sentential adverbs) set the “mood” for each sentence:
- “Frankly, my dear, I just don’t give a damn,” or
- “Evidently, the cat got into the cream”.
Context is Key
As you’ll see in the examples below, the choice of using either more/most important or more/most importantly depends upon the construction and meaning of the sentence in which you intend to use them.
Only if you’re a pompous blowhard do you say things importantly.
Then, again. . . .”he spoke important” doesn’t do it for me.
Do note that the phrase more importantly is often used when you have just finished issuing a rebuttal and you’re about to provide an even stronger rebuttal or to say that a fact you are talking about is important — think comparison.
Keep in mind that important is an adjective and modifies the noun or pronoun while importantly is an adverb that modifies an adjective, another adverb, or a verb. Both will modify a sentence, clause, or phrase.
Another point to keep in mind is that English syntax is cyclical with the rules changing with the “fashion”. In the past decades, the preference has been towards important. Now, the cycle is turning towards accepting both. So, it’s up to you: Go with the one you prefer — and structure your sentence accordingly.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
If you found this post on “More/Most Important versus More/Most Importantly” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.
| More Important Most Important |
More Importantly Most Importantly |
|---|---|
5 Questions to Make a Decision by Satya Murthy is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr. — It’s most important to make a decision. |
Sneakers is under the CC0 license, via PxHere, <https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1002127>. — More importantly, make that decision right, lol. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Sentential adjective | Sentential adverb |
| An elliptical form of what is most important | In an important way
Above and beyond all other consideration |
| Examples: | |
| Some of the example sentences are worded to agree with each side while others say something else. Read the difference . . . or not. | |
| What’s most important is that we try our best.
That we try our best is most important. |
Most importantly, we should try our best. |
| His color is very good, and what is most important, he is himself. | Most importantly, he is himself and his color is very good. |
| It’s most important that he focus on moving Provo residents past the campus. | Most importantly, he wants to focus on moving Provo residents past the campus. |
| What were these quasi-stellar objects and, perhaps even more important, how were they giving off so much energy? | Even more importantly, how were these quasi-stellar objects giving off so much energy? |
| “What was most important was that the neighbors didn’t call the police because of our loud music.”
“No, they called the cops because everyone was naked in the pool!” |
More importantly, the neighbors didn’t call the police because of our loud music. |
| Even though Dave is very shy, it’s most important that he can stand up for himself when he needs to. | Dave is still very shy. Most importantly, though, he can stand up for himself when he needs to. |
| It is most important that you get double-AAs, not triple-As. | Don’t get those batteries, they’re expensive. More importantly, we want double-AAs, not triple-As. |
| It’s more important that the local cheer squad feels included. | Local cheer squad members are world champions; more importantly, they “get to feel included”. |
| It’s more important that traditional automakers from the US and Europe are working to close the gap with Tesla in terms of performance and in terms of desirability. | Traditional automakers from the US and Europe are working to close the gap with Tesla in terms of performance, and perhaps more importantly, they are also working toward closing the gap with Tesla in terms of desirability. |
| Your homework is more important than playing video-games. | More importantly, your homework is due tomorrow and the video games will wait. |
| I have a more important meeting. | More importantly, I have a meeting in a few minutes.
I can, more importantly, meet with you tomorrow. |
| The most important part of story is the ending. | Most importantly, the story should have an ending. |
| History of the Word: | |
| Important is from the Old Italian importante, from the Medieval Latin importāre meaning to signify, be of consequence, from the Latin meaning to carry in. | |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for More/Most Important versus More/Most Importantly
Bell, Joe. “Is ‘More Importantly’ Grammatically Correct?” Quora. 15 Dec 2019. Web. 3 April 2020. <https://www.quora.com/Is-more-importantly-grammatically-correct>.
Casagrande, June. “A Word, Please: It’s all ‘Picayunish Pedantry’.” Los Angeles Times. 12 Nov 2011. Web. 3 April 2020. <https://www.latimes.com/socal/glendale-news-press/news/tn-gnp-xpm-2011-11-12-tn-gnp-a-word-story.html>.
“Commonly Confused Words.” Your Dictionary.com. n.d. Web. 3 April 2020. <http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/style-and-usage/commonly-confused-words.html#bYKVFJBwsPGYkpiK.99>.
Dictionary.com: important
Doyle, Gabe. “The Open Secret of Sentential Adverbs.” Motivated Grammar. 9 Mar 2010. Web. n.d. <https://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/tag/most-importantly/>.
Fogarty, Mignon. “‘Important’ or ‘Importantly’?” Quick and Dirty Tips. 24 Aug 2017. Web. 3 April 2020. <https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/important-or-importantly>.
The Free Dictionary: most importantly
“We Know You’re Concerned about ‘Important’ and ‘Importantly’: But more importantly, we’re here to help.” Merriam-Webster. n.d. Web. 3 April 2020. <https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/we-know-youre-concerned-about-important-and-importantly>.
Muldoon, Samuel. “Is ‘More Importantly’ Grammatically Correct?” Quora. 15 Dec 2019. Web. 3 April 2020. <https://www.quora.com/Is-more-importantly-grammatically-correct>.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Free Dental Picture by Authority Dental is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via their post on “What is Tooth Remineralization?”
