Farther and Further

Farther and further

These two words are the most closely related examples on this list. They have been used interchangeably for hundreds of years, to describe distances in space, time, and abstract relationships.

Most modern usage guides (especially in US English) suggest using farther to describe physical distances, especially those that could be measured:

The next town was another ten miles farther to the west.

The river carried the boat farther and farther from the shore.

And further for more intangible or non-literal distances:

The further back in time you look, the less industrial pollution there is.

I drifted further and further towards sleep.

However, the Cambridge Dictionary says that they are both the “irregular comparative forms of far [used to] talk about distance”, and there is “no difference in meaning between them”. It also says that "further" is the more commonly used of the two. Whether you agree with this or not, you can avoid pedantic criticism of your word choice by remembering: if you could plausibly measure how far the distance you are describing is, then use far-ther, if not, then use further.

There are instances where further is used and not farther. This is when we use further to mean extra, additionally or more:

For further (extra) information go to our website.

Further, (additionally) you can subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

I refuse to speak with you further (more).

In these situations it can be useful to be guided by how the sentence sounds. Using farther in the above sentences would sound like you are talking about or to a male parental figure and completely change the meaning.