Word Painting

Farther versus Further

I was watching The Day After Tomorrow last night and Dennis Quaid’s character made a grammatical error (yes, I can be a freakin’ grammar geek sometimes. I try not to be too anal about it). He asked the question, “How much further do we have to go?” What his character should have asked is “How much farther do we have to go?”

Farther = actual distance. When father is used it means actual physical distance.

Further = definition of degree/depth, or metaphorical distance. It is a time, degree, or quantity.

Remember it this way …

Farther has the word “far” in it relating to distance, actual distance that is.

Further has the word “fur” in it as in “thick fur” or depth/degree.

I know it sounds a bit silly but it works.

• Our car drove farther than I thought it would on one tank of gas.
• I wanted to run farther, but I became too exhausted.
• Our house is farther away from the restaurant than yours.

Examples of further:

• I asked that there be further discussion on the matter.
• I need to look further into the logistics of moving farther from my office building.
• I hope that gas prices drop further for our road trip vacation.