# <On / From> April 1, the price will be reduced



## meijin

Hi, please imagine you are viewing a software vendor's website. 

1. On April 1, the price of (software name) will be reduced to $50.
2. From April 1, the price of (software name) will be reduced to $50.

Does #1 sound like the price will be $50 on April 1 only?
Does #2 sound like it will take some days to reduce the price to $50 because of the preposition "from"?

What's the most natural way to say what I want to say? (I mean the price will be reduced to $50 on April 1 and remain at that price until they change the price again)


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## The Newt

"From" is simply wrong there. The implication of the first sentence is that at the first second after midnight on the first the price will change. You could also say "As of April 1..."


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## meijin

Thanks Newt. So #1 is correct and idiomatic, and if I wanted to say that the price will be reduced to $50 on that day only, it would be "On April 1 only, the price of (software name) will be reduced to $50". Is that right?


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## The Newt

meijin said:


> Thanks Newt. So #1 is correct and idiomatic, and if I wanted to say that the price will be reduced to $50 on that day only, it would be "On April 1 only, the price of (software name) will be reduced to $50". Is that right?



Yes, although something like "On April 1, there will be a one-day sale on the software at a special price of $50" would be clearer.


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## kentix

I think "from" is British usage, at least in some contexts. I'm not certain about this one, but I think it might be one of them, at least as an option.

It's definitely not right in U.S. usage.

I prefer "as of" because it makes clear that it's a permanent reduction.

Another way to say that is, "On April 1, the price goes down to $50. To me the clear implication is that that is a permanent change.

On April 1, all our products will be 20% off. - sounds like a sale

On April 1, all our prices will go down 20% - sounds like a permanent reduction


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## Tegs

meijin said:


> 1. On April 1, the price of (software name) will be reduced to $50.
> 2. From April 1, the price of (software name) will be reduced to $50.


1 means the price will be reduced on this specific date. Whether it will go back up the following day or not is unclear. 
2 means the price will be reduced on this date and will remain so for some unspecified amount of time. 

2 is completely acceptable in BE and I’m surprised to discover that in AE it is considered incorrect. We learn something new every day!


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## abluter

In BE, "from April !st" means "from April 1st onwards, indefinitely."  If the price were going to be reduced for one day only, the advertisement would say just that.


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## meijin

Thanks all for the replies.   
Another interesting difference between AmE and BrE!


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## elroy

The Newt said:


> The implication of the first sentence is that at the first second after midnight on the first the price will change.


 I disagree with this.


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## meijin

If the price were going to be reduced from tomorrow (in BrE), would it be just "tomorrow" in AmE since "on tomorrow" doesn't work?

_"Hey, did you know that the price will be reduced to $50 tomorrow?"_ [AmE]
_"Hey, did you know that the price will be reduced to £50 *from* tomorrow?"_ [BrE]

Since the AmE version isn't clear whether the price reduction is for tomorrow only, I'd use kentix's suggestion "go down".

_"Hey, did you know that the price will go down to $50 tomorrow?"_

I don't think "as of" is suitable for this kind of informal conversation between friends.


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## The Newt

elroy said:


> I disagree with this.



Because it's too specific? Granted, "On April 1" could technically refer to some point during the day, but an online consumer would presumably expect to be able to receive the sale price the moment the clock finished striking midnight.


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## elroy

The Newt said:


> "On April 1" could technically refer *refers* to some point during the day


 Everything else is unspecified.


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## USMeg

meijin said:


> If the price were going to be reduced from tomorrow (in BrE), would it be just "tomorrow" in AmE since "on tomorrow" doesn't work?
> 
> _"Hey, did you know that the price will be reduced to $50 tomorrow?"_ [AmE]


_"Hey, did you know that the price will be reduced to $50 _*starting* _tomorrow?"_


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## Roxxxannne

If I wanted people to be absolutely sure of what I meant, I would say
Starting on April 1/As of April 1, the price will be reduced to $50.
or
On April 1 only, the price will be reduced to $50.


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## meijin

USMeg said:


> _"Hey, did you know that the price will be reduced to $50 _*starting* _tomorrow?"_





Roxxxannne said:


> Starting on April 1/As of April 1, the price will be reduced to $50.


So "starting tomorrow" and "starting on April 1" are both idiomatic in AmE but "from tomorrow" and "from April 1" aren't (when used with a phrase like "will be reduced"). Very interesting.


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## kentix

No, we don't use "from" like that except in phrases like "from now on"/"from now until..."


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## meijin

kentix said:


> No, we don't use "from" like that except in phrases like "from now on"/"from now until..."


So you don't say, for example, "We must wear masks from tomorrow" or "Wearing masks will be mandatory from tomorrow"?


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## kentix

No.

We would say, "starting tomorrow".


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## meijin

So you would say "We must wear masks starting from tomorrow" or "Wearing masks will be mandatory starting from tomorrow". I suppose you find it odd when BrE speakers say sentences like these.


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## kentix

"We must wear masks starting from tomorrow."
"Wearing masks will be mandatory starting from tomorrow."



meijin said:


> I suppose you find it odd when BrE speakers say sentences like these.


If you've never heard it before it sounds wrong.


The Newt said:


> "From" is simply wrong there.


If you have heard it before, it sounds British.


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## meijin

kentix said:


> We must wear masks starting from tomorrow" or "Wearing masks will be mandatory starting from tomorrow".


Sorry, I forgot to delete "from".


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## kentix

It would be natural in AE with its natural partner.

- _From_ April 1 _to_ April 7th, the price of (software name) will be $50.

What's unnatural to us is the "unfinished" range.


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## meijin

kentix said:


> What's unnatural to us the "unfinished" range.


That's really interesting. We (Japanese) are like British people. We don't find the "unfinished" range odd at all.


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## kentix

We would probably actually say "through" in that sales context. "From April 1 through April 7..."


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## natkretep

What a surprise! So AmE speakers never use _from_ to indicate a lower or earlier point in a range? We see 'New prices from 1st April' regularly, as well as 'Tickets from $100'.


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## kentix

Not with dates.

A: We must wear masks from tomorrow.
B: Wow! We're getting masks from the future? These masks we have here aren't any good?


"Tickets from $100" sounds more natural but we would probably more naturally say "starting at $100". Let's see what other AE speakers say about "Tickets from $100." I'm not certain about it.


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## meijin

kentix said:


> A: We must wear masks from tomorrow.
> B: Wow! We're getting masks from the future?


I hope that's a joke, kentix.  
I mean, isn't "Till when?" a more likely response? (Or "Through when?")

But seriously, would you use "starting" instead of "from" in all of the following examples?

_1. I want to wake up at 6 from next week.
2. I'm going to Italy from June.
3. I'll need your help from the middle of next month._

I hope these are all fine in BrE.


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## kentix

Yes, "starting (in)" in all of those.

Yes, that was a joke. "From tomorrow" kind of sounds like they are coming from tomorrow.

- Where can we get masks?
- You can get them from the supply room or from tomorrow.
- We have an employee named "tomorrow"?


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## meijin

kentix said:


> No, we don't use "from" like that except in phrases like "from now on"/"from now until..."





kentix said:


> "From tomorrow" kind of sounds like they are coming from tomorrow.


So maybe "We must wear masks from tomorrow *on*" is fine in AmE?


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## kentix

Yes, I think some people would say that.


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## natkretep

meijin said:


> _1. I want to wake up at 6 from next week.
> 2. I'm going to Italy from June.
> 3. I'll need your help from the middle of next month._
> 
> I hope these are all fine in BrE.


I'm fine with (1) and (3). (2) sounds a little unusual because 'to be going' refers to the act of going there, so that should only take a shorter time; 'I'm going to be in Italy from June' works better for me.


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## meijin

kentix said:


> Yes, I think some people would say that.


I see. So people are more likely to say "starting tomorrow". And if it's the day after tomorrow, it usually would be "starting the day after tomorrow", because "from the day after tomorrow on" sounds a little awkward.



natkretep said:


> 'I'm going to be in Italy from June' works better for me.


That makes sense. Thank natkretep.


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## kentix

natkretep said:


> 'I'm going to be in Italy from June' works better for me.


And that's a classic example where we would have to have a second half.

'I'm going to be in Italy from June to October.'

Added:

For that meaning we could say,

'I'm going to be in Italy from June onward.'


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## meijin

kentix said:


> For that meaning we could say,
> 
> 'I'm going to be in Italy from June onward.'


I see. So unlike "from now on", "from tomorrow on", etc., you don't omit the "ward" part in that case.


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## natkretep

I'm happy with 'from June onwards'.


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## meijin

Do BrE speakers find it odd or feel "Why don't you use _from_?" when AmE speakers say sentences like "We must wear masks starting tomorrow" or "I'm going to be in Italy starting in June"?


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## heypresto

meijin said:


> "We must wear masks starting tomorrow"


This sounds normal to me. I don't feel there's a missing 'from.'



meijin said:


> "I'm going to be in Italy starting in June"


This sounds very odd. Adding 'from' somewhere won't make it sound any better.


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## Tegs

I agree with Lingo that this one sounds odd - 


meijin said:


> I'm going to be in Italy starting in June"



However I think this version is fine - I'm going to be in Italy _from June onwards_.


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## meijin

Tegs said:


> However I think this version is fine - I'm going to be in Italy _from June onwards_.


Isn't "onwards" unnecessary?


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## heypresto

Possibly, but it sounds entirely natural, and would sound odd without it. We sort of expect _something _after 'June':

 . . . from June.   
 . . . from June _onwards_. 
 . . . from June _till October_.


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## meijin

Is that only when it's the date/month/year? Or do you find all of the following odd too without _onwards_ or _on_?

_2a. I'm going to be in Italy from tomorrow.
2b. I'm going to be in Italy from the day after tomorrow.
2c. I'm going to be in Italy from next week._


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## meijin

I've added "onwards" hoping to receive replies from BrE speakers.

_2a. I'm going to be in Italy from tomorrow onwards.
2b. I'm going to be in Italy from the day after tomorrow onwards.
2c. I'm going to be in Italy from next week onwards._


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## natkretep

As I said earlier, both versions with or without _onwards_ are possible for me.


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## meijin

So that means it's better to always add "onwards" (or just "on" when it's more natural) in BrE because some BrE speakers find it odd without it. 

_We must wear masks from tomorrow *on(wards)*.
From 1st April *on(wards)*, the price will be reduced to $50._


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## heypresto

meijin said:


> We must wear masks from tomorrow *on(wards)*.
> From 1st April *on(wards)*, the price will be reduced to $50.



I don't think you can make such hard and fast rules. I'm happy to omit 'on' or 'onwards' here.


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## natkretep

I see sentences like this: 'From 2021, free movement for EEA citizens ended and new criteria whereby they may live and work in the UK were introduced' or 'Check the table for the VAT rates of the Member States of the European Union and the United Kingdom from January 1, 2021.' They seem unremarkable to me.


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## meijin

heypresto said:


> I don't think you can make such hard and fast rules. I'm happy to omit 'on' or 'onwards' here.


But "I'm happy to omit" isn't the same as "It's better to omit", right? In other words, is there any BrE speaker who finds the use of "on" or "onwards" odd in the two sentences in my last post?


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