Underway vs. Under way – What’s the Gist?
- Under way functions as an adverb.
- Underway is another way to say under way, but it can also function as an adjective.
Continue reading to learn more on these two words.
Short English phrases often start out as multiple words before fusing together into a single word over time.
This process is called compounding. The end result is a single word that looks like multiple words with all the spaces removed. Roof tops eventually became rooftops, for example, and flower bed became flowerbed.
This process occurs frequently and affects all parts of speech. Rooftops and flowerbed are compound nouns, but phrases like under way, which function as adjectives or adverbs, can also become compounded to form underway.
Which version of this phrase should you use? Continue reading to learn more.
What is the Difference Between Underway and Under Way?
In this post, I will compare underway vs. under way. I will use each of these phrases in some example sentences that demonstrate how they are used in context.
I will also share a useful mnemonic device that makes choosing underway or under way easier for your own writing.
How to Use Under Way
What does under way mean? Under way functions as an adverb. It means in progress or currently happening.
Here are some sentences that feature under way used as an adverb,
- “My military campaign for world domination is already under way,” I sneered to my archnemesis.
- “By the time we get to the seaport, the ship will already be under way!” said Archibald.
The traditional rule involving under way vs. underway was that the two-word under way was to be used as an adverb and the one-word underway was to be used as an adjective. In our examples above, we used under way as an adverb; now let’s see how it looks as an adjective.
How to Use Underway
What does underway mean? Underway is another version of under way, but it functions as an adjective.
For example,
- The underway proceedings to impeach the president may not conclude before he leaves office at the end of his term.
- The underway voyage to Mars will take approximately two more years on its current trajectory.
Underway has been an English word since the 18th century. It was probably borrowed from a Medieval Dutch word that had a similar meaning.
How to Remember These Words
For many years, style guides recommended using under way as an adverb and underway as an adjective. Recently, however, publications have begun to accept the compounded word in all senses.
Style guides like The AP Stylebook and Garner’s Modern English Usage advise using underway in all senses, so it’s safe to stick with the one-word spelling at this point.
Just as other words like rooftop and flowerbed have been compounded, so has underway.
Summary
Is it under way or underway? Traditionally, under way was an adverb and underway was an adjective. Increasingly, however, underway is being spelled as a single word in all senses.