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  • As of this morning, he was not in support of the motion.
  • As at this morning, he was not in support of the motion.

Which is correct?

RegDwigнt
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kolossus
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  • *At* is never used in such contexts. Idiomatically, *of* is more common, but *from* can also be used. Personally I have deep misgivings about what seems to me to be something of a "tense clash" in OP's example caused by the juxtaposition of *this* and *was. I'd much rather see either that* or *is*, depending on the exact meaning intended. – FumbleFingers Apr 10 '14 at 14:24
  • @FumbleFingers - you're right on the tense clash there; makes me uncomfortable as well and I'm mostly for the first sentence. I'm having a friendly debate with a colleague and I want definite/citable proof – kolossus Apr 10 '14 at 14:27
  • Bear in mind there's no "grammatical principle" which could possibly rule for or against any of several possible prepositions here. The best you can do is find out what most native speakers actually prefer to use (which may have changed over time). It may interest you to know that Google Books claims 456 written instances of "but as of* next year", and 39 instances using from. But there are no* written instances of "but as at* next year". I assume both you and your colleague are not native speakers - if you were, you probably wouldn't be discussing at* at all. – FumbleFingers Apr 10 '14 at 14:39
  • @FumbleFingers - Colonials. Does that count? – kolossus Apr 10 '14 at 14:42
  • Good question! I must admit "acceptable" usages in *Indian English* trip me up more than those cases where AmE differs from Bre. The problem being we have to accept that whereas some Indian usages are in fact "grammatical" according to the conventions of some who are effectively "native speakers", many others are really just "mistakes". In AmE we often try to get round some "native speaker errors" by classifying them as "valid in AAVE" - but that's usually "degenerate", whereas some Indian usages aren't really like that (they may be just "archaic" to me). – FumbleFingers Apr 10 '14 at 15:04
  • "As at" is often used with a specific date: "document revision as at Monday 1 January 08:15" and indicates the status at a specific point in time (as it was at that time, might have changed since then) – msam Apr 10 '14 at 15:33
  • @FumbleFingers I didn't know India had their own slant of the english language. Interesting. I'm from a former british colony anyways – kolossus Apr 10 '14 at 22:07
  • @kolossus: Absolutely. IE "endorses" various idiomatic usages that wouldn't pass in (sometimes, today's) AmE or BrE. See this excellent answer re I have a doubt, do the needful, etc. Not all differences will necessarily survive (Indians adopted into the UK certainly tend to ditch them), but it's a pretty self-sustaining "dialect" in the sub-continent itself. – FumbleFingers Apr 10 '14 at 23:56
  • As of now, seems to be close to a rarely used word 'hitherto' (Should be Indian again; sorry @FumbleFingers :) like as it stands now, or so. As at is usually used in accounts, like "Transactions as at.....(date)... – Ram Pillai Dec 04 '20 at 08:04
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    @RamPillai: Nah. As of now is definitely NOT close to hitherto. It would be more accurate to say they're actually *antonyms, in that as of now* means *NOT true until now, but true from now onwards, whereas hitherto* means *true until now, with the strong implication ...but NOT true from now onwards*. – FumbleFingers Dec 04 '20 at 16:47
  • OK @FumbleFingers! – Ram Pillai Dec 04 '20 at 16:52

4 Answers4

2

AS of: Used to indicate the time or date from which something starts:

  • As of January 1, a free market will be created.

  • I’m on unemployment as of today

Source:oxforddictionaries online

Your second sentence is wrong.

FumbleFingers
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    Really? I can find sources supporting both. Care to share? – kolossus Apr 10 '14 at 14:24
  • Please show me, I am always happy to learn more. –  Apr 10 '14 at 14:26
  • Here: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_as_of_and_as_at?#slide=4. Not saying you're wrong or right yet, just need definitive sources – kolossus Apr 10 '14 at 14:28
  • @kolossus: You can always find examples of "incorrect" usage on the whole Internet. Sometimes from people who do actually know better, but have simply made a slip-up (or deliberately trampled over established usage for some other reason). But there's a lot of "English" text on the Internet these days which is primarily "wrong" because it was produced by non-native speakers. In your own comment above, for example, you've just written *outrightly wrong*. It would be "outright wrong" to cite that as an example supporting the idea that such a usage is "valid". – FumbleFingers Apr 10 '14 at 14:30
  • I appreciate this clarifying discussion, but I think I don't deserve the down vote. –  Apr 10 '14 at 14:37
  • @Josh: I see no downvote (whoever it was must have cancelled it). But I've corrected the claim that your examples are from OED - they're both from Oxford University Publications, but the real OED is a very different animal (you normally need a subscription, but for this week only, it's free). Check it out while you still can! – FumbleFingers Apr 10 '14 at 15:14
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"As at" is mostly used in stats and finance. It indicates a bi-temporal slice of data and thus has two time references buried in it. It really translates to "as of a certain time, I knew something about some other time."

For example, let's say that on Jan 1 I had $20 in my bank account, and project it to be $25 on Feb 1. Let's now say that on Jan 2 you found out it would still be $20 on Feb 1.

You would say that as at Jan 1 my bank account is projected to be $25. As at Jan 2, my account is projected to be $20.

As of Jan 1, however, I only have $20.

I agree, it sounds odd, but it does have a limited purpose.

Nishmaster
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  • But isn't both interchageable in your above example? As at Jan 1, you have $20. And your bank account is projected to be $25 as of Jan 1. – Pacerier Jul 08 '17 at 04:00
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"as of" can be ambiguous. "as of" and "as from" can easily be understood in their meanings of "valid from this time onward". "as at", by contrast, means "this information was valid at that particular time, but I can't vouch for it after (or perhaps even before) that point". Many people use "as of" more casually for the same thing, but if you want this specific meaning to be absolutely clear, particularly in an academic or statistical context where changes may occur over time, using "as at" is unambiguous, and to my mind preferable.

Cate
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I suppose both are correct. I have heard both used by native English speakers. I prefer the first to the second but that is probably because I am English and the second sentence sounds American, or at any rate not British.

KCH
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