Hello there learners!
I am Latika, a writer at Genlish. I am here to share grammar and other language -related tips and tricks with you, to simplify the process of learning English.
In today’s blog, I will be discussing the difference between two commonly confused words further and farther and which one to use when. So, let’s begin!
Further versus Farther
Further is used for figurative or metaphorical distance whereas farther is used for physical distance. An easy way to remember the difference is that farther has ‘far’ in it, which implies physical distance.
Here are some examples:
- How much farther is the cafe?
- How much farther is the sun than the moon?
- This product needs further testing.
- His new project is pushing him further into debt.
Useful Tips To Remember The Difference
It is not always easy to distinguish between further and farther. For example, if I say, “Sheetal is further along in her book”, I could use further to signify the figurative distance through the story or use farther to signify the physical distance between the pages.
In such ambiguous cases, any of the two words can be used. Hence the correct answer is (c) Both.
I hope this tip helps you remember how to use further and farther correctly. Keep reading for more such tips!