โFarther relates to definition, further is a definition of degree.โ Finding Forrester
Is it always so simple to work out when to use these two words? Maybe, maybe not! Some people struggle to remember when either word should or shouldnโtโ be used and that doesnโt surprise me, since theyโre so similar!
The easiest way to remember when to use one or the other, is to think of the word far in โfartherโ โ this is related to physical distance. So if you are talking about how far a place is in relation to the subject, you use โfartherโ.
The other word, โfurtherโ is used when talking about metaphorical or figurative distance.
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As adverbs, bothย fartherย andย furtherย can imply distance in space or time:
- The road is blocked, we canโt go anyย further/farther.
- We watched their train moving graduallyย further/fartherย away.
- Liverpool isย further/fartherย away from London than Manchester.
- Nothing could beย further/fartherย from the truth.
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When the degree or extent of something is implied, the use ofย furtherย is preferred:
- They didnโt get anyย furtherย with making a decision.
- The police decided to investigateย further.
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As an adjective,ย further, can also be used mainly with abstract nouns, to mean additional, extra, more:
- Are there anyย furtherย questions?
- Furtherย supplies will be available soon.
- Please go to the manager if you have anyย furtherย enquiries.
- The committee decided to take noย furtherย action.
- Iโm thinking about educating further.
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The adjectiveย fartherย is only used for referring to distance:
- Theย fartherย shore of the lake could hardly be seen in the mist.
- My familyโs home is at theย fartherย end of the village.
- The fartherย you go, the more I will miss you.
- The mountain peak was fartherย away than sheโd expected.
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The usage of these two words can sometimes be a little confusing, but donโt worry about it too much because reliable sources like The Oxford English Dictionary would say that they can be used interchangeably, especially in ambiguous cases like this one:
โIโm further along in the test right now than you areโ
You could use farther if youโre thinking of it as physical distance through the pages of the test or you could use further if youโre relating it to figurative distance through the assessment process.
So the bottom line is, they are generally used interchangeably, but if you need to differentiate between the two โ think of actual distance (far) for โfartherโ and the other one, โfurtherโ, is for figurative or metaphorical distance.
An easy way to remember the difference!