How to Write Right: Advance vs. Advanced
- — May 1, 2010
Advanced ticket sales begin August 1.
Do you need an advance degree to figure out what’s wrong with this month’s example sentence? Hopefully not, but this error has been creeping up on us lately, with writers confusing “advanced” and “advance.” The two words are not interchangeable: “advanced” means far along or past the beginner’s level (advanced mathematics, for instance, or a person advanced in years). Clearly nobody wants to buy complex or elderly tickets. We want to buy tickets well before the show opens while there’s still a good selection – that is, in advance. Accordingly, our sentence should read:
Advance ticket sales begin August 1.
P.S. Advanced degree, not advance degree, of course.
Illustration by Andrew Saeger
