Publicly Vs. Publically: What’s The Correct Word To Use?

Publicly vs. publically: what is the correct spelling for the adverb of the word public? The adverb for most words that end with “ic” usually ends with “ic-ally,” and a good example is the word historic, which becomes historically.” However, there is still a lot of confusion regarding a few words.

Some dictionaries list publically as a variant of the word publicly. Publicly is an adverb of the word public, meaning “in a public manner or acceptable/observable/ accessible to/ by the consent of the public.” So, while they have the same meaning, the correct & most accepted spelling is publicly.

If you are unsure about the correct spelling for the adverb of the word public, worry not, for you are not alone. This post seeks to explain the words publically and publicly. So read on for the answers to questions you have about these two terms.

Definitions Of Publicly And Publically

Both publicly and publically are word forms of the term “public.” So, it would only make sense to begin this section by defining the word public. The word public is a noun/adjective. As a noun, it refers to the people in general, regardless of their membership in a specific group.

As an adjective, the word public means “able to be seen or known by everyone, an open view, or happening without concealment.” Also, as an adjective, public means “about the people, a whole country, or community.” Now that you understand the word public, let’s look at some of the definitions in the section below.

Definition Of Publicly

Publicly is an adverb whose meaning is “in public, openly or in an open and public manner.” An example in a sentence is, “The chairman held the meeting publicly and allowed all clients and stakeholders to attend.”

Another meaning for “publicly” is “by, for/on behalf of the public.” Let’s look at an example in a sentence, “Amber had her lawyer read her declaration publicly so the blogs would pick up on the information and she would garner public support.”

Other sources define “publicly” as “in the name of the public” or “by public action or consent.” For example, in a sentence, “Jane continued to publicly express strong feelings about John’s involvement in the corporate saga.”

Definition Of Publically

A few years back, the word publically was not an entry in dictionaries. However, if you search for the word currently, it is entered publicly as an alternative/variant/rare spelling of the word “publicly.” So, the definition of “publically” in some dictionaries is the same as “publicly.

How To Properly Use Publicly And Publically In A Sentence

The key takeaway from the definitions section above is that publicly is the most acceptable spelling for the adverb of the word public. Some people refer to this word as the correct word, while publically as an incorrect spelling.

However, both words are correct but publicly is more acceptable and common. Now that you know this, let us look at some of the things you should remember when using these words in sentences.

Note that the word publicly came about in the 1560s from the forming word “public” and the suffix “-ly.” The suffix “-ly” is a common adverbial suffix denoting a manner in which something happens.”

How To Use The Word Publicly

Publicly is an adverb. An adverb is a word that tells you more about a verb, adjective, or another adverb. Most adverbs end with the letters “ly.” So, when using this word in a sentence, the key is to understand its meaning.

Besides its meaning, remember the following tips for using adverbs in sentences:

• Use an adverb at the beginning of a sentence to describe a verb. For example, “Publicly, Anitta spoke about her addiction.” In this sentence, the word “publicly” describes the verb “speak.”
• Use an adverb to modify an adjective in a sentence. For example, “John was publicly very annoyed.” In this sentence, “publicly,” the adverb, modifies the word “very,” which is the adjective.
• You can also pair two adverbs in a sentence. For example, “John danced annoyingly publicly.” The words “publicly” and “annoyingly” are paired adverbs in this sentence.

It is also worth mentioning that “publicly” is an adverb of manner. That means it explains how something happens. For example, in a sentence, “The preacher spoke out publicly about the mistreatment of immigrants in Texas.” In this example, the word “publicly” explains the manner in which the preacher spoke, which is “in public.”

Something else you should know about using publicly in a sentence is how often you should use it. For example, in the sentence, “Mary spoke to the public publicly.” In this sentence, the word “publicly” is redundant. So, when using this word in sentences, you must be keen on cutting out redundancy.

How To Use The Word Publically

As explained in the definition section, publically is a variant spelling for the word “publicly.” Therefore, if you must use it in sentences, refer to the instructions above.

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Publicly Vs. Publically: More On These Word’s Usage

Regarding which word you should use between “publicly” and “publically,” you are free to choose whichever you want. However, the issue is that publically is a nonstandard word. So, while it is not necessarily wrong, it is also not readily accepted. Most formal contexts also don’t recognize the word.

So, if you use it in formal writing, it will be considered incorrect. Besides this, below are some things you should know about these words:

• How to Pronounce Them. The proper pronunciation for the word “publicly” is “/puhb-lik-lee/.” In contrast, the correct spelling for the word publically is “/puh-blik-al-lee/.”
• How Many Syllables Do They Have? The word publicly has three syllables, “pub-lic-ly.” The stressed syllable in the word publicly is “pub.” In contrast, the word publically has four syllables.

List Of Examples Of Publicly And Publically Use In Sentences

In our research, we discovered that most people ask whether the word publically is an acceptable English word. The answer to this question is “YES.” Something you should take away from this article is that both spellings are correct, especially based on context.

So, now that you know this, below are some examples you can read before you start constructing sentences with these words:

Example sentences of the word publicly

1. Jamila expressed her negative feelings towards her mother publicly.
2. The government announced its dissolution publicly.
3. Publicly, she took off her hat to signify her cut ties with the religion.
4. The students expressed their disgust publicly, despite the consequences.
5. The publicly funded claimant obtained legal aid after years of facing injustice.

Example sentence of the word publically

1. All the financial transactions were listed publically.
2. Ken publically turned down the job offer from the governor.
3. The company plans to announce its dissolution next month publically.
4. She screamed and told about the abuse she endured in her relationship publically.
5. Jane did not talk about her relationship publically until last week.

Conclusion

Most words that end with the letters “-ic” usually take on the suffix “-ally,” in their adverb form. For example, the adverb for the word medic is medically, while that for statistic is statistically. However, this is not the case with the adverb for the word public.

Interestingly, when pronouncing words that end with “-ally,” you pronounce the suffix as “-ly.” This explains one of the reasons for the confusion between the words publicly and publically. However, the fact is that “publicly” is the correct spelling, and we recommend that you embrace it in formal conversations and writing so that your audience understands you.