Forth vs. Fourth (Grammar Rules)
Learn when to use forth vs. fourth in your writing with Grammar Rules from the Writer’s Digest editors, including a few examples.
For this edition of Grammar Rules, we look at a couple homophones. One is used to indicate forward movement, and the other is an adjective for the number four.
Forth vs. Fourth
Forth can is an adverb used to indicate someone or something is moving forward or coming out. For instance, a judge may ask the bailiff to bring forth the prisoner from wherever they're being held.
Fourth, on the other hand, is an ordinal number that is used as an adjective to indicate the number four in order. So if you have four people lined up in a row numbered one, two, three, and four in order; then the one person would be first, the two person second, the three person third, and finally, the four person would be fourth.
Note: The fourth can also be used as a noun in music or when referring to the American Independence Day as just "the Fourth."
Make sense?
Here are a couple examples of forth and fourth:
Correct: He brought forth his favorite idea for the project.
Incorrect: He brought fourth his favorite idea for the project.
Correct: She was fourth in line to buy a ticket.
Incorrect: She was forth in line to buy a ticket.
If you know how to spell the number four, then this should be an easy one to remember: Fourth, which is an ordinal number, has the number four in it; while forth is directional meaning forward, onward, or outward.
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No matter what type of writing you do, mastering the fundamentals of grammar and mechanics is an important first step to having a successful writing career.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
