Commonly Confused Words: Forego/Foregoing/Forgo/Forgoing

Would you forego the chance to sue for a decent settlement? Or would you be forgoing that chance?

Forego (verb):

• Forego is a verb that means to go before or precede: “The State’s case-in-chief will forego Plaintiff’s defense.”

Foregoing (adjective):

• Foregoing is an adjective that refers to something referenced to or stated before: “For the foregoing reasons, the Court should find for plaintiff.”

Forgo (verb):

• Forgo is a verb that means to refrain from doing something you can legally do: “Given the evidence presented in this case, the defendant has chosen to forgo a jury trial.”
• Forgoing is the present participle form of forgo: “Defendant was forgoing the chance to testify in order to avoid complicating the narrative.”

Rules:

(1) If you need an ADJECTIVE, use foregoing.

(2) If you need a VERB use forego when describing an ordering in TIME and forgo when you mean ABSTAIN.

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