199. Importance and Unimportance

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There are numerous ways of saying statement messages are important, and of expressing unimportance

THE ESSENTIALS OF IMPORTANCE

In the post before this (198. Indicating Importance 1), importance is defined as something like “a probability of having a substantial, non-harmful consequence”. The likelihood of there being an additional but not inevitable meaning, such as necessity or notability, is also proposed. The post further suggests that the idea of importance is common in professional writing and able to be expressed in a variety of ways.

Two general ways of expressing importance are linking it with nouns and linking it with statements. The preceding post examines the first of these, while this one addresses the second. I also wish here to consider ways in which the opposite of importance – unimportance – can be expressed.

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LINKING IMPORTANCE WITH STATEMENTS

Statements minimally contain a verb and a noun or equivalent that is its subject. The following are some common ways in which statements can have the idea of importance added to them.

1. “It is important…”

Sentences starting it is important are a very typical means of adding the idea of importance to statement:

(a) It is important to NOTE changes.

(b) It is important that changes ARE NOTED.

(c) It is important which changes OCCUR.

For an explanation of the need for it in such sentences, see 103. Representing a Later Statement with “it”.

As these examples show, important may be followed by a to verb or a that statement or an indirect question. The choice depends on meaning.

To is likely to be future-referring, and adds the idea of necessity to the basic meaning of important, so that the sentence purpose is instructing or advising (see 128. Imperative Verbs in Formal Writing, #1 and 187. Advising and Recommending). To also tends to imply that the advised action should be carried out by the addressee (i.e. you). Near-synonyms that could replace important include desirable, necessary and strong forms like crucial. Replacing is important in such sentences with is significant or matters or makes a difference feels inappropriate.

That after it is important can be understood in the same way as to, except that it is vaguer about who should carry out the advised action. However, there is also an alternative way of understanding sentences like (b): that the action in question is current or past rather than future, with important being a characteristic of it rather than advising its undertaking, so that the secondary idea of “meaningful” rather than “necessary” is present. When is important has this meaning, it can be replaced by is significant or matters or makes a difference.

The possibility of an indirect question after it is important places important in a rather select group of adjectives (see 219. Wording next to Indirect Questions, #3). It refers to an an unmentioned asking noun before the indirect question, such as the question of (see 88. Exotic Grammar Structures 1, #8). Is important in this situation seems to carry no meaning beyond “has a substantial consequence”, and to be replaceable by it matters or it makes a difference.

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2. “… is important”

Brief statements can be linked with the idea of importance (suggesting necessity / advice) by making them the subject of BE with an importance adjective as the complement, like this:

(d) Noting changes is important.

The statement verb here (noting) needs -ing because it now occupies a noun position (see 70. Gerunds).

Sometimes it is possible to begin with the object of the statement verb:

(e) Changes are important to note.

Here, the statement verb is in the to form after important, its implied subject being you, not changes (see 83. Adjectives before a “to” Verb). However, important cannot always be used like this. For example, replacing noting changes in (d) with sterilising equipment would rule out a paraphrase like (e). I am not sure why. Crucial and vital can also be used in sentences like (d) and (e).

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3. “What is important…”

Without a context, it is important in a sentence like (a) above can be understood in two ways. In one, the addressee already knows that something is going to be described as important, and is expecting to learn only what it is. In the other, the addressee knows what is going to be described but not how it is going to be described. In the first case, note changes expresses the main information in (a); in the second, is important does.

Starting with what is important, by contrast, removes all doubt: the key information is not that something is important, but where the importance lies. This is always mentioned at the end of the sentence after BE:

(f) One can do much to learn a new language, but what is important is to try and use it communicatively.

The relevant sub-meaning of important used after what like this is “especial”. For a discussion of what sentences in general, see 145. Highlighting with “What” Sentences. For more on the contrast with it sentences, see 207. Exotic Grammar Structures 4, #3.

One further point about what is important is that it is the common English equivalent of the use in some other languages of a word like the with a lone adjective meaning important (*the important is…). English is only rarely able to place an adjective by itself after the, and not normally important (see 102. Adjectives with no Noun 2). An alternative to what is… that is possible, though, is the slightly informal the important thing is… (see 260. Formal Written Uses of “Thing”, #1).

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4. Adverbs and “Note”

An ordinary statement can be marked as important simply by placing importantly or significantly at its start. These are “sentence” adverbs, usually followed by a comma (see 121. Sentence-Spanning Adverbs). Importantly says the statement makes a noteworthy point; significantly that it implies something special. Consider this:

(g) …., Few people showed interest.

Here, Importantly would say the low interest level was of especial consequence, whereas Significantly would say it indicated something else of consequence.

Importantly is replaceable by Note that… or a later note between commas (see 294. Parentheses, #1). The Latin abbreviation NB is an informal equivalent, especially useful in note-taking (see 130. Formal Abbreviations).

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EXPRESSING UNIMPORTANCE

If something is unimportant, it lacks the main cause of importance, namely an expected substantial consequence. However, unimportant resembles important in not saying anything about the size of what it is describing: the improbability of a significant impact is its main message, though it can also carry sub-meanings like “unnecessary”, “irrelevant” or “low-ranking”.

The primary means of expressing unimportance are as follows.

5. Opposites of Importance Words

The main adjectives that can express unimportance are unimportant, insignificant, immaterial, inconsequential and irrelevant, with or without the strength adverb utterly. In addition, the positives of the underlined words can be combined with not, especially in order to sound more polite (see 166. Appropriacy in Professional English). Like their positive equivalents, unimportance adjectives may follow a starting it is… or end a sentence.

To express unimportance with a noun, it is normal to use a negative word like no or little before an importance noun (consequence, importance, significance etc.), usually after such verbs as HAVE, POSSESS, CARRY or BE OF. One noun that is used slightly differently, however, is no matter. It tends to go before a question word to make an unimportance statement within a longer sentence (e.g. no matter how much they try, they never succeed).

A major unimportance verb is DO NOT MATTER. Like its positive equivalent, it often follows a starting it. However, it is not used there in exactly the same way as MATTER. It is similar in allowing a following that statement or indirect question, where the meaning is respectively “insignificant” and “free choice”, and also in not being usable with a following to. The main difference is that it additionally allows a following about:

(h) It does not matter about sterilising the equipment.

This equates to “it is not important to sterilise…”. One other unimportance verb – usable with that or an indirect question but not about – is MAKE NO DIFFERENCE.

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6. “Whether” and “regardless of”

Whether can indicate unimportance in various ways. One is by forming a noun-like statement that is the subject of do(es) not matter or makes(s) no difference, often in a sentence starting with it:

(i) It does not matter whether children start school at 5 or 6.

The noun-like character of such whether statements means that they are indirect questions (see 57. Indirect Questions in Formal Writing). Whether can be replaced by if. The or part is sometimes simply or not, in which case it can be left unsaid.

Whether (but not if) can also make an adverb-like statement of unimportance, like this:

(j) Whether children start school at 5 or not, they learn well.

The whether part here is adverb-like because it is not the subject, object or complement of the main verb learn (see 99. Meanings of “whether… or…”). The idea of unimportance is, as a result, expressed only by whether, and not by the main verb as well. Another result is that or not cannot be dropped.

Sometimes in sentences like (j), one sees whether preceded by the preposition regardless of, probably for emphasis. These words are also usable without whether, so that they become the sole indicator of unimportance. In such cases, they must be followed by either a question word other than whether or a corresponding noun, e.g.:

(k) Regardless of how old we are/our age, exercise is beneficial.

For more about replacement of question words by nouns, see 185. Noun Synonyms of Question Words.

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7. “Be it” (or “Be there” or “Come”)… or…”

These uses of the rare “subjunctive” verb form work rather like adverbial whether…or…. Be it goes before the complement of BE, e.g.:

(l) Be it early or late, work is always being done.

The others precede their own subject, e.g.:

(m) Come hell or high water, the project must be finished.

For full details of both of these, see 88. Exotic Grammar Structures 1, #6 and 228. Exotic Grammar structures 5, #4.

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8. Words Ending in “-(so)ever”

Words ending in -ever can introduce direct and indirect questions (Whatever caused that?) but, like most question words, can also introduce sentence parts unrelated to questions. Unimportance is a major non-question meaning (see 272 Uses of “Ever”, #6). -ever statements expressing it are mostly adverbial (i.e. not acting as subject, object or complement), and sometimes have -so- before -ever:

(n) What(so)ever people think, problems can be overcome.

(o) However old we are, exercise is beneficial.

Sentence (n) says sceptical opinions are unimportant in problem-solving; (o) that age is unimportant where the need for exercise is concerned. If what(so)ever precedes the + noun + BE (e.g. whatever the cost is, …), BE is often dropped (see the end of 192. When BE can be Omitted). For more on using however to express unimportance, see 256. Unusual Meanings of Familiar Words, #6.

198. Indicating Importance

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The idea of importance can be linked with nouns by means of adjectives, other nouns, verbs or adverbs

IMPORTANCE IN PROFESSIONAL WRITING

Saying that something is important is as common in professional writing as it is in everyday English. We might say, for example, that a piece of evidence is important in an investigation, a published paper has importance in an academic field, an event is important in history, an ingredient has importance in a recipe, or a matter is important to consider.

However, defining importance is not so easy, as there are numerous other concepts that are either part of its meaning or very similar to it. This is clear from the variety of adjectives that may or may not be synonyms, such as significant, relevant, big, special, especial, essential, major, necessary and consequential. There is, however, a value in seeking a clear definition of importance since it enables different ways of expressing the same idea to be identified and compared.

It is this ultimate goal that the present post has. The definition of importance is first considered, and some of the ways to express the concept follow. The post after this (199. Importance and Unimportance) continues the investigation and also examines the negative equivalent of importance.

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DEFINITION OF IMPORTANCE

Basically, I would suggest that “importance” is the meaning that exists whenever the words important or importance are used or could be used in an exact paraphrase. Hence, the definition of importance is whatever these words mean. Of the above-mentioned importance adjectives, the one that my dictionary particularly singles out is consequential. This means something like “has a substantial consequence”, a meaning that does seem to be present wherever important is used. A problem, however, is that there are some situations involving this meaning where important would not be appropriate. For example, a delay and an illness are more likely to accompany major or significant than important.

In such cases, the apparent obstacle to expressing the meaning of “consequential” with important is a suggestion of harm. It appears that important is typically used only with ideas whose consequence is not harmful, or even beneficial. In other words, important seems to have a positive “connotation” (see 16. Ways of Distinguishing Similar Words, #2). Supporting this is the fact that words like delays and illness can actually be used with important, but only to suggest that the consequence in mind was not the expected bad one.

However, to say that the meaning of important combines the two ideas of “consequential” and “not harmful” is probably still not enough. There seem to be other ideas – different with different nouns – on top of these. An important ingredient, for example, is also likely to be a necessary or fundamental one – the recipe will fail without it. An important idea is valuable, notable or relevant. An important person (VIP) will be high-ranking or privileged – indeed, the idea of rank here often seems to overtake the “substantial consequence” one. We might conclude, then, that important expresses two basic concepts, but implies one or other of various extra possibilities.

One sub-meaning that important does not imply, however, is “large-sized”. As a student myself of French and Spanish, I know that these languages (and others like them) seem to use a word of similar spelling and meaning to important in some places where English would prefer a size word like great, large, major or noticeable (see the end of 108. Formal and Informal Words). In English, if we say a million is an important number, we mean that it has some notable effect – not that it represents a very large quantity. Similarly, an important mountain is not so much a high one as one with special significance for someone or something.

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SHOWING IMPORTANCE OF NOUN MEANINGS

Nouns and statements seem to be the two main kinds of expression whose meanings are likely to be linked with the idea of importance. To link noun meanings, the following are possible.

1. Adjectives

Adjectives are the most obvious means of linking a noun meaning with the idea of importance. As indicated above, important and consequential can be used with most of the sub-meanings, but there is less flexibility with such synonyms as necessary, fundamental, notable, valuable, relevant, high-ranking and privileged. The meaning of notable is also possessed by significant and informal big (e.g. a big idea). Big can additionally mean high-ranking (e.g. the big man). However, these uses do not establish the equivalence of size and importance: the use is metaphorical, with no reference to actual size.

Various other synonyms of important are sometimes found in the introduction to a list. Consider the following example from 96. Making Statements More Uncertain 2:

(a) Important European language types are Romance, Slavic and Germanic.

As with most list introductions, this involves a general term for the list (European language types – see 54. Sentence Lists 1: Incidental). Important before it suggests that the mentioned list members are not all of the possibilities but are about to be mentioned because they are somehow more consequential. In other words, the mentioned list members are not random examples (see 1. Simple Example-Giving). Other adjectives that can be used in this situation – though not always in (a) – include chief, especial, leading, main, major, notable, particular, principal and special. Most are what I have elsewhere called “priority” adjectives (see 184. Adjectives with Limited Mobility, #3).

Importance adjectives can often be followed by for to show who or what is affected by the importance. Moreover, like many other adjectives they can be made weaker or stronger through the addition of “degree” adverbs, especially slightly, quite and very (see 194. Adverbs that Say How Much). Where very is possible, preference is often given to the more specific adverbs extremely or highly. Important also allows the very specific vitally.

Some other adjectives mean “very important” by themselves, e.g. central, critical, crucial, essential, fundamental, key and vital (= necessary for life). The strength of these words means none can be used with very or its synonyms (see 16. Ways of Distinguishing Similar Words, #3).

Some importance adjectives – important, significant, necessary, relevant – are often used after how in direct and indirect questions. In such situations they do not necessarily imply the existence of any importance at all: the question How important is X? means “How much importance does X have?”, leaving open the possibility that X is completely unimportant (see 94. Essay Question Words).

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2. Nouns

The nouns importance and significance are able to attribute importance to a preceding noun idea by acting as the object of an intervening verb like CARRY, HAVE or POSSESS (…carries importance), or within an of phrase before or after BE (…is of importance). Consequence is also usable in this latter way. The meaning of very can be added by means of an adjective like considerable, great, vital or (the) utmost.

Importance and significance can also attribute importance to a following noun idea by means of expressions like attach importance to. There is again a small set of possible verbs, and the preposition will tend to be to, though some verbs require an alternative. Common verbs are ATTACH…to, ATTRIBUTE…to, GIVE…to and SEE…in (see 123. Prepositional Verbs Containing a Noun).

Like the corresponding adjectives, these nouns can also mean “amount” rather than “existence” of importance, especially when followed by of:

(b) Section 3 considers the importance of incentives.

This means incentives may or may not be important.

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3. Verbs

A single verb that means the same as other verbs combined with important or importance is MATTER, as in this example:

(c) Grammar study matters (greatly) because it can facilitate writing.

It is the subject of MATTER that is marked as important. There is no following noun – MATTER is “intransitive” (see 113. Verbs that cannot be Passive). An alternative to MATTER is MAKE A (GREAT) DIFFERENCE – a very clear indicator of the consequential aspect of the concept of importance.

A verb that can attach the idea of importance to a noun after it is NOTE. To do so, it normally needs the base “imperative” form: Note X (see 128. Imperative Verbs in Formal Writing, #3). It is also usable in the passive voice (along with should) to show the importance of a preceding noun, like MATTER (X should be noted). Synonyms of NOTE (NOTICE, OBSERVE) are similarly usable.

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4. Adverbs

A noun idea can be singled out as the most important of a group by being placed after a “particularizing” adverb like above all, especially, notably or particularly (see 54. Sentence lists 1), like this:

(d) Some energy sources, particularly solar cells, pollute less than others.

The message here is that solar cells are more important for minimizing pollution than other energy sources.

If we wish to single out solar cells in a new sentence, so as to give further details about them, we can start with in particular (In particular, solar cells…). It is also possible to begin such a new sentence with a superlative adjective (The most important…is…). For details, see 122. Signpost Words in Multi-Sentence Lists.

The other main way of showing importance is by attributing it to statements. This, along with ways of showing unimportance, is considered in the next post.