Is the word 'FARTHER' commonly used in the US? Or would you rather use 'FURTHER' instead?

Interesting. So, I’m a native English speaker from the US, well educated (bachelors degree from a well respected university) and yet this one caught me off guard. I thought “oh shit I don’t think I know the difference” - not even intuitively. Up until now I thought both words were fully interchangeable.

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BobDeLaSponge@reddit

Several, maybe even a dozen

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_NEW_HORIZONS_@reddit

There are dozens of us!

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name_checks_out86@reddit

FURTHUR is the correct spelling, and encompasses both words and meanings. You’re either on the bus, or you’re off the bus!

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Great_Chipmunk4357@reddit

I use farther a lot more, and I’m pretty sure that’s what I’ve heard the most.

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CalmRip@reddit

There are actually grammar rules for using these two words: * "Farther" refers to physical distance: I ran farther than I planned. * "Further" refers to an addition or improvement: I wan to further improve my guitar playing. Source: retired copyeditor/tech writer.

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Thelonius16@reddit

There’s a right way for each of them and I always forget which is which.

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baalroo@reddit

On my part of the country it's always "further." I see others saying the words have two different meanings, but we just use further for both.

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This-Reindeer6063@reddit

Both are used in different context.

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Prestigious-Comb4280@reddit

When is farther used?

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ZaphodG@reddit

Literal:

Australia is farther from Boston than New York.

Figurative:

Erling Haaland is further from winning the ballon d’Or than Kylian Mbappé.

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Prestigious-Comb4280@reddit

I have only heard the word further used here.

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Roy_F_Kent@reddit

The further you take this conversation the farther I will walk away from it

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NecessaryPopular1@reddit

Both are used, quite often, but in different contexts.

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SadAdeptness6287@reddit

I disagree with the people saying they fully mean two separate things. Both can be used interchangeably for referring to distance. “The store is further down then road” and “The store is farther down the road” both sound correct to a native speaker and make grammatical sense.

The slight nuance between is that further can be used in other contexts that farther can’t be used in. “We need to discuss this farther” sounds wrong to a native speaker although I would argue that it is still grammatically correct as every native speaker would understand what you mean. Grammar is descriptive not prescriptive(it describes how people speak not defines a set of rules that people must obey).

But to answer your question OP, both are used commonly.

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ShortRasp@reddit

Same same but different but still same

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mdf7g@reddit

Pedants will tell you that the former is for physical and the latter for conceptual distance, but in practice, we use them largely (but not entirely) interchangeably.

An actual empirically demonstrable difference is that farther does not have a usage as a verb. You can further your ambitions by pursuing a new degree or whatever, but you can't farther anything. Likewise, only further is typically used in the sense of "more extensively" -- "we should think about this matter farther" sounds quite odd.

But "the restaurant is a bit farther/further than we expected, so we may be a bit late" does not sound unusual either way. The strict physical/conceptual split is largely a superstitious artifact of overzealous style- and usage-guides.

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JoeMorgue@reddit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBHLcBxQZiM

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ogreblood@reddit

FARTHER is a measure of distance

FURTHER is a measure of depth

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Azamora@reddit

Farther = distance. Further = everything else.
But yeah, in real life people mostly just use ‘further.

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theegodmother1999@reddit

that's two different words friend

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Peculiar-Interests@reddit

They are two different words used in different contexts. Similar to “then” and “than.”

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Its_me_hannah_@reddit

These are a great example of words that I instinctively know which one to use and when it’s used wrong but until I saw the answer written here I wasn’t able to articulate exactly why.

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SteveMarck@reddit

They mean different things, but if you're obviously from somewhere where English isn't your first language, folks aren't going to give you a hard time for mixing them up. Most of us wouldn't even notice. Heck, most of us probably don't know the difference. 54% of the US reads at a sixth grade level or below.

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SnooPies5378@reddit

same difference as your vs you're. Both referring to "you" in different context

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hail_to_the_beef@reddit

Not the same difference at all. Your and you’re are homophones, and one is a contraction. The relationship between these two words is in almost no way similar to further/farther.

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_WillCAD_@reddit

Farther relates to distance. Further is a definition of degree.

Both are used in the US, but it's a rare person who knows the difference between them and uses them correctly.

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Ayuuun321@reddit

I’m not being condescending when I say this:

dictionaries don’t just give definitions, but they cite examples as well. So you don’t need to make posts on Reddit about something that would take 30 seconds to look up. It even tells you how to pronounce the word.

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Ok-Energy-9785@reddit

We use both

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Any-Concentrate-1922@reddit

People mix them up all the time. NASA did yesterday when they referred to Orion going "further."

Farther is used for distance.

Further is for thoughts.

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bknight63@reddit

I have to drive farther to further my ambitions.

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CatoTheElder2024@reddit

Americans would never use such imprecise terms for distance description. We are a very precise people who only describe distance in exact number of eagles that would fill the distance.

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Bluecat72@reddit

I use both depending on context. Both can be used to note physical distance - “the cabin is just a little farther down the trail, about a quarter-mile past the cookhouse” does not sound wrong if you sub in further. But they are not really interchangeable if you are using it to mean “additional” as in “I need to look into this further before I can give you a definitive answer.”

Further is also used as a verb, meaning “to advance” - as in “she attended the professional society meetings in order to network and further her career.”

So, yeah. Both, depending on context.

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TheOnlyJimEver@reddit

Farther refers to physical distance. Further refers to metaphorical distance or progress.

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Any-Investment5692@reddit

Farther is for physical distance

Further is used for time over distance.

Its not set in stone but its used in that context. However their are regional differences in how its used.

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Living_Molasses4719@reddit

Farther is for physical distance such as miles

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DeniseReades@reddit

The best thing about this is that OP asked in r/askabrit as well and they made the exact same jokes.

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LABELyourPHOTOS@reddit

They are commonly misused here in place of each other but other folks gave you the low down on proper usage. No one would bat an eye if you messed up usage.

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TumbleFairbottom@reddit

I use farther as intended, when talking about actual distance. I use further for any other distances.

These two words don’t have the same meaning.

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SouthernStyleGamer@reddit

In the south, we don't use either. We take this issue a little futher.

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Prize_Consequence568@reddit

Depends on the particular person OP.

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Constellation-88@reddit

They are used for different things. They’re not synonyms. Farther is physical distance. Further is metaphorical.

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Warducky9999@reddit

“No that bar sucks and it’s farther away!” “We can walk further when we’re drunk so it doesn’t matter” Idk how to explain it better I’m not a doctor

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Prior_Butterfly_7839@reddit

“Idk how to explain it better I’m not a doctor” got a snort laugh out of this internet stranger.

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tlamy@reddit

They're different words. The cave is farther away than the lake. Versus: It got darker as I got further into the cave.

I don't know how to describe the difference, but Farther is for distance between places, and Further is for distance you've gone "in" something if that makes sense

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