Browse Definitions :

Forecast or forecasted?

Writing for Business

Which is correct?
The global pharmaceutical market is ________ to exceed $975 billion by 2013.
a. forecast
b. forecasted

Answer: a

Explanation:
Although both are used, forecast is the preferred form. Forecast is an irregular verb, meaning that its past forms don’t follow the general rule of adding ed to the base.

There are lots of other verbs that are unchanged in past tense forms. You’d never say, for example, “I putted all my money into the healthcare IT tech stocks.” To a stickler, forecasted sounds just as wrong.

That said, you can probably get away with forecasted in informal writing — but why would you want to? And if you follow AP style, stick to forecast.

UsingEnglish.com explains irregular verbs and provides a handy list.

Dig Deeper on Writing for Business

Networking
  • CSU/DSU (Channel Service Unit/Data Service Unit)

    A CSU/DSU (Channel Service Unit/Data Service Unit) is a hardware device about the size of a modem. It converts a digital data ...

  • data streaming

    Data streaming is the continuous transfer of data from one or more sources at a steady, high speed for processing into specific ...

  • secure access service edge (SASE)

    Secure access service edge, also known as SASE and pronounced sassy, is a cloud architecture model that bundles network and ...

Security
CIO
HRSoftware
  • recruitment process outsourcing (RPO)

    Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) is when an employer turns the responsibility of finding potential job candidates over to a ...

  • human resources (HR) generalist

    A human resources generalist is an HR professional who handles the daily responsibilities of talent management, employee ...

  • employee lifecycle

    The employee lifecycle is a human resources model that identifies the different stages a worker advances through in an ...

Customer Experience
  • Adobe Experience Platform

    Adobe Experience Platform is a suite of customer experience management (CXM) solutions from Adobe.

  • virtual assistant (AI assistant)

    A virtual assistant, also called an AI assistant or digital assistant, is an application program that understands natural ...

  • inbound marketing

    Inbound marketing is a strategy that focuses on attracting customers, or leads, via company-created internet content, thereby ...

Close