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http://youtu.be/cgNMSJTevAk?t=2m10s This test states that the correct answer is: "Will I love you for ever?"

There are numerous songs\articles on the internet that say that "forever" is the right choice. Example: http://oaadonline.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/forever

I'm inclined to thing that the author of the test is wrong. Am I right?

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  • There is information from the OED here ell.stackexchange.com/questions/6645/for-ever-and-forever that might help you.
    – Frank
    Commented Jun 14, 2014 at 6:34
  • There is information here that might help you. If you can understand it. Full of authoritative statements, but not all in total agreement. If I read the overview correctly, forever and for ever are interchangeable (all 2-3 senses) nowadays in the UK, with a slight preference for the solid form; in the US, it is a strong preference. Forevermore seems allowable nowadays; for evermore is standard; forever more seems an interloper. Commented Jun 14, 2014 at 6:55

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In American English, the one-word version is the only version for the adverb meaning continually, incessantly, or eternally.

Traditionally in British English the one-word version means continually or persistently and the two-word means eternally. This however is not the case anymore and the American English standard mentioned above is now being used for the British version.

The two-word version, according to OED citations, is by far the oldest, first showing up around 1300 in Cursor Mundi, a Middle English poem: “This folk … that suld vs serue for euer and ai” (“This folk … that should us serve for ever and always”).

I do write "for ever" sometimes, and the only rule I could come up with was, if you can substitute "always," you should use the one-word version of forever. But two words sometimes looks better when your meaning is "for good."

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