When a person talks about his or her religion and the benefits it gives them, is he or she giving a testimony or testimonial?
Thanks.
2 Likes
I don’t think either one would really be wrong, but I tend to think of testimony as more first person with testimonial being an appreciation of another person.
“I experienced this…” versus “Mr. Smith has has been a profound asset to the community.”
1 Like
It can be only testimony.
Testimonial is a third-party certification about a person.
2 Likes
There is some overlap in usage. I don’t think testimonial will work well in your sentence though. A testimonial is usually a positive statement about a person, their work, their character, etc. A job reference from a former boss would be a type of testimonial. Testimony is a statement by someone who witnessed something specific.
Testimonial tends to be more general and opinion. Testimony is more specific and factual. In both cases, it is usually something the person has first-hand knowledge of.
For example a person might witness the benefits religion has on people who practice that religion. So they can testify to that. But they can not give testimony or a testimonial about Buddha, Christ or Muhammad because they did not witness them first-hand.
Also, testimonial can be used as an adjective, but testimony can not.
In law, testimony is a formal verbal statement of fact by a witness in court.
Deposition is a formal statement of fact by a witness made outside of court. A deposition might be made verbally, but is written down or otherwise recorded to be used later.
1 Like