And I thought writing a blog about further and farther would be easy! Or at least somewhat straightforward. Instead, Merriam-Webster.com is able to spend eleven paragraphs explaining that pair of words and then conclude with this: ‘If you come across a situation which the paragraphs above do not address, there is always the standard dodge given by usage guides when no clear answer is possible: let your ear guide you.’
So, how in the world was I going to approach this subject? I certainly couldn’t do it any more justice than the experts at Merriam-Webster. I’m no lexical scholar; I’m a sharer of simple grammar advice. So, I’m going to leave all the in-depth explanations to the websites I’ll cite at the end of this blog post. Here and now, though, I’m going to compile and condense everything those websites explained into simple rules.
We’ll start with the ultimate catch-all:
If you always use ‘further’, you will never be wrong.
Sometimes ‘farther’ is the better choice. However, ‘farther’ can also be totally wrong sometimes. The worst you can ever say about ‘further’, in any situation, is that it’s less than ideal. We’ll start, though, with three places where ‘further’ is specifically correct:
1. She did it to further her career.
In this situation, ‘to further’ means ‘to advance’, and in this situation, ‘further’ is always the correct choice, never ‘farther’.
2. We’ve discussed many things. Further, we’ve come to some conclusions.
In this situation, ‘further’ means ‘furthermore’, and in this situation, ‘further’ is always the correct choice.
3. Have we received any further payments?
In this situation, ‘further’ means ‘additional’, and in this situation, ‘further’ is greatly preferred to ‘farther’, although there are rare published instances of ‘farther’ used with this meaning.
Now we come to the biggest area of concern: distance
There’s a simple guideline to follow. However, it’s far less concrete than any of the three above.
‘Farther’ is used to refer to physical distances. ‘Further’ is used to refer to abstract distances.
He travelled farther down the road than you.
If we look further back in history, we find many strange events.
Mars is farther from the sun than Earth.
The project was further along than excepted.
The rule appears to work smoothly. However, there are a couple of things we need to bear in mind:
1. ‘Further’ is often used to refer to physical distances. It is especially common in British English, and one website advised the use of ‘further’ at all times in British English.
2. Sometimes it’s almost impossible to decide if a distance is physical or abstract. Should you say: I’m farther on in this book than you; or I’m further on in this book than you? Are you farther on through the physical pages and thickness of the book? Or are you further on through the abstract story? In this situation, you would probably be best served by choosing the word that sounds best.
In summary:
Our catch-all rule:
If you always use ‘further’, you will never be wrong.
Three situations where ‘further’ is specifically correct:
1. She did it to further her career.
2. We’ve discussed many things. Further, we’ve come to some conclusions.
3. Have we received any further payments?
And a guideline for distances:
‘Farther’ is used to refer to physical distances. ‘Further’ is used to refer to abstract distances.
But ‘further’ is often used for both, especially in British English.
Hope this helps. Have a great week!
Reference websites:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/is-it-further-or-farther-usage-how-to-use
https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/further-versus-farther
https://proofreadmyessay.co.uk/writing-tips/word-choice-farther-vs-further/
And for lots more grammar pointers, check out My Big Blog Directory.
But if you’d like some entertainment instead, take a look at Glimpses—my free book of short stories.
Well done, mate!