Monday, April 13, 2009

Therefor vs Therefore

An accidental therefor legitimately slipped past my spellcheck the other day. I meant to use therefore and, for whatever reason, missed typing the final "e." So what is the difference? Following are definitions from The Columbia Guide to Standard American English -

therefor: for or in return for that, for it - ex. I'll explain what we must do and the causes therefor.

therefore: consequently, hence, for that reason - ex. I don't have a key; therefore, I'll have to ring the bell.

8 comments:

OHN said...

Time to get out the wet noodle!

Erin Davis said...

Ooooo. Good one!

Carlos said...

Very nice! I'd heard therefor used before, but didn't realize it was a homophone for the other!

CLK said...

I always thought it was "therefor" not therefore... Strange. Very strange.

Anonymous said...

Thanks! I love the fact that I can google "therefor vs therefore" and get an instant answer!

Anonymous said...

Wow, I've been using it wrong all this time... thanks!

DaVince said...

Wow, it's interesting to know that "therefor" had a legit use at all!

Anonymous said...

Therefor is usually used as a legal term and cleans up the end of the sentence. The fork lift accident which occurred on July 9, 2010 was not caused by the negligence of the Defendant and the Defendant is under no liability to the Plaintiff therefor.

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