- 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?
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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.– FumbleFingersCommented Apr 10, 2014 at 14:24
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@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– kolossusCommented Apr 10, 2014 at 14:27
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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.– FumbleFingersCommented Apr 10, 2014 at 14:39
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@FumbleFingers - Colonials. Does that count?– kolossusCommented Apr 10, 2014 at 14:42
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1@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.– FumbleFingersCommented Dec 4, 2020 at 16:47
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4 Answers
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.
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1Really? I can find sources supporting both. Care to share?– kolossusCommented Apr 10, 2014 at 14:24
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Please show me, I am always happy to learn more.– user66974Commented Apr 10, 2014 at 14:26
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Here: wiki.answers.com/Q/…. Not saying you're wrong or right yet, just need definitive sources– kolossusCommented Apr 10, 2014 at 14:28
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@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". Commented Apr 10, 2014 at 14:30
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I appreciate this clarifying discussion, but I think I don't deserve the down vote.– user66974Commented Apr 10, 2014 at 14:37
"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.
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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.– PacerierCommented Jul 8, 2017 at 4:00
"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.
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.
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