Photo from Pixaby, CCO

You can go further in life if you know the difference between further and farther.

We cover many confusing elements of English vocabulary in this blog, and for good reason – there are a lot of them! One of the most commonly mixed-up pairs of words is farther and further. They are both adverbs relative to distance, and they look and sound very much alike, so many assume that they are interchangeable synonyms for each other. However, nothing could be further from the truth.

Historically, it was once considered proper to use the two words similarly, but they have since diverged from each other, like a fork in the linguistic road. In the 18^th century, there is evidence that there was no distinction made between the two of them. Curiously, this seems to have lasted for only 100 years.

Further is the older word in the English language, dating back to before the 12^th century in England, at least 2 centuries before the first known use of farther. Further may also be used as an adjective, and even as a verb, in addition to its common usage as an adverb. It is, therefore, the more versatile and frequently used word of the pair.

So, what’s the difference? Well, the clue is there in one of the words. Farther contains the English word far, which we know as an adverb indicating distance. Since the 19^th century, then, farther has primarily been used to indicate physical distance. Put another way, we use farther when we mean literal distance, and further when we mean metaphorical distance, such as time.

“You will need to drive farther than ten miles to get to the nearest gas station.”

“To understand this person, we need to look further into her past.”

We also use further as a formal adverb meaning additionally, or in addition to. It may be short for furthermore.

“Let me further remind you that we don’t have all the facts yet.”

Remember I said that further can be used as an adjective? It is commonly used as a synonym for the word more.

“My car’s bumper was scratched, but there was no further damage.”

And, as a verb, further may be used in place of other verbs such as advance, promote, or progress.

“I am going back to college to further my career.”

On occasion, farther can also be used as an adjective, but always before a noun.

“My car is parked at the farther end of this parking lot.”

This leads us to consider the superlatives of the two words, farthest and furthest, which are also commonly misused. The same rule applies, however.

“Terry and Jimmy had the farthest to travel to get to the party.”

“Tom’s guess was the furthest from the correct answer.”

Finally, and you already know this, but it bears mentioning, English compounds the problem by making one of its most common nouns look and sound remarkably like these two similar adverbs.

“My father drove farther than anyone to further prove his love for me.”

And, with that, I see no reason to draw this subject out any further.