Join In
Twitter
YouTube
Weekly Newsletter
Libraries
A-Z Grammatical Terms
A-Z Confused Words
FAQs by Writers
A-Z Awkward Plurals
Punctuation Lessons
Common Mistakes
(ordered by seriousness) ESL Vocabulary Lists Parts of Speech Lists A-Z Idioms and Proverbs Grammar Videos
(ordered by category) Tests and Games Top Tip Install a grammar checker
for your browser
(ordered by seriousness) ESL Vocabulary Lists Parts of Speech Lists A-Z Idioms and Proverbs Grammar Videos
(ordered by category) Tests and Games Top Tip Install a grammar checker
for your browser
Historic or Historical?
What Is the Difference between "Historic" and "Historical"?
"Historic" and "historical" are easy to confuse because they both relate to the past. However, there is a difference between the two words.- Historic means "having importance in history."
- Landing on the Moon was a historic moment.
- Historical means "from the past" or "relating to history."
- I have found some historical records about my hamster.

More about "Historic" and "Historical"
The words "historic" and "historical" are close in meaning, but their uses are quite different.Examples with "Historic" and "Historical"
The adjective "historic" means "having importance in history" or "having influence on history." The adjective "historical" means "having taken place in history," "from the past," or "pertaining to history."Below are three pairs of similar-looking sentences to help highlight the difference:
- This is a historical event.
- This is a historic event.
- He was a historical scholar.
- He was a historic scholar.
- The bones were of historical significance.
- The bones were of historic significance.
An Historical or a Historical?
Letters and sounds do not always correlate in English.When pronouncing the words "historic" and "historical," the accent falls on the second syllable, and many pronounce them as starting with a vowel. For those people, it is appropriate to use "an" before "historic" and "historical." Therefore, you have a choice depending on what sounds better for you. There is a lot of leniency on this issue. If you're still unsure, opt for "a historical" and "a historic" as these remain preferable - especially in formal writing.
Ready for the Test?
Help Us Improve Grammar Monster
- Do you disagree with something on this page?
- Did you spot a typo?
Find Us Quicker!
- When using a search engine (e.g., Google, Bing), you will find Grammar Monster quicker if you add #gm to your search term.