看來有些同學對這兩個詞的用法並沒有把握，沒關係，如果你耐心點，花上十分鐘看完本文，一定會信心十足。先來看看韋氏詞典是如果說的：

Main Entry: importantly

Function: adverb

Date: 1611

1: in an important way

2: it is important that

usage

A number of commentators have objected to importantly as a sentence modifier (sense 2) and have recommended important instead. Actually both the adverb and the adjective are in reputable standard use in this function. Important is always used with more or most

--Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition

再來看看美國傳統字典對此是如何看的：

usage

Some critics have objected to the use of the phrase more importantly  in place of  more important  as a means of introducing an assertion,  as in More importantly, there is no party ready to step into the vacuum left by the Communists.  But both forms are widely used by reputable writers, and there is no obvious reason for preferring one or the other. In an earlier survey the introductory use of more importantly  was acceptable to half of the members of the Usage Panel.

寡人註：The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. The Panelists are surveyed annually to gauge the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions. AHD的PANELISTS可參見

https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/usagepanel.html

另外， 我還查看了一些英國的詞典，未發現以more/most important開頭的用法，但有由more/most importantly 引導的例句。

More importantly， can he be trusted? (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)

She has a pleasant personality, but more importantly, she is well qualified for the job.

If we served more soft drinks, there would be fewer hangovers and, more importantly, fewer drink-driving incidents. (Cambridge Dictionary)

Most importantly, you must keep a record of everything you do. (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)

由此可見，英國人在語言的運用上比美國人更嚴謹，保守，更能堅持語法規則，認同prescriptive grammar，而美國英語比較sloppy,更多的人贊同descriptive grammar是不難理解的。華盛頓州立大學的英語教授Paul Brians就是一個典型，像他這樣的媚俗學者可能不少。語言在我看來，就像是一雙布鞋，穿的人多了，必然越來越松。美國人太多了，而且很多移民其母語不是英語。以至於像“long time no see”這樣的pidgin English也能被接受，許多黑人創造的英語更是當仁不讓了。但即使在美國這樣對語言不太講究的國度，還是有不少願意較真的人。請看哥倫比亞大學新聞學研究生院出版的期刊《哥倫比亞新聞評論》（註：The Columbia Journalism Review is an American magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961）的編輯有關這個話題的評論。讀完之後，你不難知道答案，到底那個更恰當一些。

Important/Importantly

Important ? Well, Interesting

By Evan Jenkins

Steve Parrott, associate director (later director) for university relations at the University of Iowa, e-mailed to ask, “Please consider a few words on ‘more important / more importantly.’ ”

Okay. Mr. Parrott had in mind sentences or clauses that begin with one of those phrases, like “Most importantly, the charges are tied directly to the original topic Mr. Starr was supposed to investigate.”

The short answer is that either form of the word is acceptable. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage (1994) has a lengthy and interesting (really) discussion of the longstanding argument (really) over important vs. importantly, with many citations, and concludes that “both are defensible grammatically and both are in respectable use.”

The tilt here, though, is toward “importantly.” The adverb can stand alone at the start of a sentence or clause — without “more” or “most” or any other modifier — and the adjective can’t.

Try it. Drop the “most” from the example quoted above; the sentence still works. Then, with “most” gone, drop the “ly” from “importantly”; the sentence no longer works.

(Some mindless aversion to “ly” adverbs at the start of a sentence — an extension of misguided rigidity about “importantly”? — must have been at work in the following sentence, since no human being ever spoke this way: “Not surprising, a variety of polls indicate...”)

The arguments for “most important” are strained, as an e-mail discussion with the freelance copy editor Christy Goldfinch of Fort Worth made clear.

“Important” commonly fails to modify any specific part of its sentence, so the adjective advocates contend that it can be understood to modify the whole thing — a “sentence adjective.” Well, “importantly” can certainly be called a “sentence adverb.”

But with “importantly” there’s no need for that dance. The adverb has an element to grab hold of within its sentence, the verb or the overall predicate. (And that, quite apart from any “sentence adverb” justification, makes the literalists’ objection to “hopefully” at the start of a sentence fallacious, as well as outmoded.)

Another argument for “most important” is that the phrase “What is” is understood to precede it. If that were a natural supposition, all sorts of adjectives (with modifiers) could start sentences. But “Most happy, the storm ended,” just doesn’t make it.

The “most” approach is acceptable (not preferable) with the one adjective “important” not on logical grounds but because it is widely used and well established. And in passages that start with modifiers ending in “ly” — “equally” comes to mind — using “important” is handy.

P.S.: Nothing in this sermon should be construed as enthusiasm for “Firstly...,” an irritating start for an even more irritating series.

CJR

Back to Language Corner home

All content © Copyright 2008 Columbia Journalism Review at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

https://archives.cjr.org/resources/lc/important.php

最後，對想在英語語言文化上有點追求，有點講究的朋友，或者想成為一名wordsmith的人，不妨多讀一些英文報紙，勤翻字典，或瀏覽網上詞典—幾乎所有主要的英文詞典都提供免費在線服務。在線詞典比紙質的好在可以聽詞的發音，有更多的例句，而且有一些Word Game，vocabulary test,以及有關詞的用法，歷史，演化等的故事。比如這個：

Usage Notes

Is This Cat 'Uninterested' or 'Disinterested'?

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/uninterested-or-disinterested

牛津字典、韋氏大學詞典、劍橋詞典，朗文詞典，及美國傳統字典是我最最喜歡的幾本字典，質量非常高。