Farther or further: which is correct?
Correct
farther (physical distance) / further (figurative extent; "additional"; also distance)
Avoid
farther (for "additional" or figurative extent: "farther discussion")
Summary
Correct: farther (physical distance) / further (figurative extent; "additional"; also distance) — Avoid: farther (for "additional" or figurative extent: "farther discussion"). Farther = at or to a greater physical distance; further = to a greater degree or extent, additional, and (especially in British English) also physical distance.
- Part of speech
- adverb, adjective
- Source
- Merriam-Webster
Why
Merriam-Webster: farther is preferred for literal distance and further for figurative extent and in the sense of additional (further information); Oxford treats the two as interchangeable for physical distance in British English, but only further carries the figurative senses (further discussion, further information).
Examples
- We walked two miles farther than planned.
- The committee asked for further information.
Check your own text: Spell Checker
Catch typos and common misspellings in American or British English, with suggestions, checked right in your browser.
Native spelling engine
- Checked against
- Merriam-Webster / Oxford
- Spelling authority
- Merriam-Webster · Oxford English Dictionary / Oxford spelling · SCOWL
- Commonly confused and non-standard forms
- 64
- Dictionary
- Hunspell en_US / en_GB / en_AU / en_CA · Dictionary license: MIT AND BSD (SCOWL combined licence)