Farther means a greater physical distance, while further means “more” in terms of figurative degree, magnitude, or intensity.

The city hall is farther down this road.

In this example, farther demonstrates the physical distance of the road. The statement is telling us that if you continue down the road, you will get to the city hall.

Let’s discuss this further in our next all-hands meeting.

Here, further can be replaced with “more” in this sentence. This does not refer to a distance, so using further instead of farther is correct.

Example sentences

Farther

  • The mountain is farther than it appears.
  • The library is farther from my house than our school.
  • The farther north we go, the colder it will get.
  • The little girl wandered farther into the forest.
  • If you go farther along the beach, you might see some dolphins.
  • The tribe’s territory is farther east.

Further

  • The police told us they would need to investigate further.
  • The scientists agreed to conduct further research to ascertain their conclusions.
  • Now without further ado, let’s start the workshop.
  • The consultant asked him if he had any further questions.
  • The building will be closed until further notice.
  • The speaker’s demonstration was clear and needed no further explanation.

Practice questions

  1. The competition is too fierce, so I don’t think I can go on any farther/further.
  2. Walk farther/further west to reach the lake and the cottage.
  3. The professor wanted to explore it farther/further and ended up studying it for the rest of his life.
  4. The sandstorm made it impossible to see farther/further than a few miles away.
  5. The tour guide took us farther/further into the cave to see the glowworms.
  6. Please do not implore any farther/further or the gentleman will feel insulted.
  7. He couldn’t have been farther/further from the truth.
  8. You have to climb farther/further up the mountain to see snow.
  9. There was no farther/further information provided on how Charles passed away.
  10. The teacher gave no farther/further instructions on how to use the program.
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Answers:

  1. further
  2. farther
  3. further
  4. farther
  5. farther
  6. further
  7. further
  8. farther
  9. further
  10. further
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