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Recently my dad and I got into a debate over a Spotify advert which said "Get 3 free months of Spotify Premium". My father said that it was incorrect and should be "3 months on Spotify Premium Free" as "free" should follow whatever is free. I felt it sounded alright and nothing was wrong. Like "3 free gifts" sounds more correct than "3 gifts free".

Which is correct? Is this something where different rules apply on spoken and written English?

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    They both are grammatical, easily understood, and mean precisely the same thing. Your choice.
    – Robusto
    Sep 23 at 13:04
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    As evidenced by raw Google searches, 'three free gifts' is far more idiomatic than 'three gifts free' ('free gift' is a strong collocation or even a compound noun), but 'get three items free' is probably slightly more idiomatic than 'get three free items', and 'get three months free coverage' probably tilts preference towards 'get three months free'. But 'incorrect' is not applicable here.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Sep 23 at 15:00
  • Things like "free beer" and "free speech" are also common. Does this rule apply to both meanings of free?
    – Stuart F
    Sep 23 at 16:56
  • Saying "three months free of Spotify" suggests you won't get Spotify. IMO it should be phrased as "Get Spotify..."
    – Weather Vane
    Sep 23 at 20:39

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