Hey everyone, welcome to A Quick Fix.
These are short episodes designed to clear up common points of confusion in English.
In just a few minutes, you'll walk away with something practical you can use today.
Let's do it.
Last week, I went hiking with my daughters.
Don't be too impressed.
They walked for about five minutes and then complained that they were tired and wanted a snack.
But we are working on endurance.
That's where we're at.
And the place we were at was very pretty.
There were lots of trees, mountain views.
There was a stream passing through, so you could hear the water trickling by.
And It wasn't strenuous.
It wasn't difficult.
It was sort of a beginner trail because it was flat.
The trails were not steep.
In other words, there wasn't a dramatic increase in elevation.
There were no vertical inclines.
We didn't need hiking poles.
The trails were not steep.
They were fairly flat.
So it was pretty easy, at least for me.
Not so much for my daughters.
The point is, eventually, we came to a fork in the trail.
Do you know what that means?
There was a point where the trail split into two directions.
A fork can mean two or more directions technically.
So there was a fork in the trail.
One path was short and easy, back to our car.
The other was longer.
And because I want my daughters to build endurance, I said, let's go further.
Meaning, let's keep exploring.
Let's go further.
And a second later...
I started second-guessing myself.
Let's go further?
Or let's go farther?
Let's go further came out naturally, but let's go farther definitely works.
Hmm.
Have you ever said a word and then thought, wait, was that right?
That was me mid-trail, thinking about definitions and grammar.
If you've ever struggled with these two pesky words, you are not alone.
Let's do a quick fix.
Farther versus further.
Further is for abstract ideas.
In a business meeting, you might say, let's discuss this topic further.
It's like saying, let's continue discussing the topic, or let's discuss the topic more.
Farther, on the other hand, is for physical distance.
We walked farther than we planned.
You can see the word far in farther. which makes it kind of easy to remember in my head.
So in the context of the story, both actually work.
Let's go further is like, let's keep exploring.
Let's continue the adventure.
Let's go for longer.
It's an abstract idea.
And it's like, let's do more.
Let's go further.
And let's go farther means let's cover more physical distance.
Let's cover more ground.
We can go through the woods.
We can walk next to the waterfall.
Let's go farther.
So the meaning shifts slightly depending on which one you pick.
We're going to make sure you know which one to pick.
So first, let's go through some example sentences.
And in my opinion, I like to hear a lot.
So let's do quite a few here.
Further, right, once again means more, additional or deeper.
It's super flexible.
So you're going to hear it used in many different ways from an adverb to an adjective and a verb.
So number one imagine you're in a team meeting and your director says before we go any further, let's make sure everyone understands the plan.
That's like saying, before we go any deeper, before we continue this discussion, Let's make sure everyone understands the plan.
Number two, she wants to take her studies further and apply to grad school.
So she wants to deepen her knowledge.
She wants to continue studying.
She wants more education.
So she wants to take her studies further and apply to grad school.
It's like she's saying she wants to take her studies to the next level.
Number three, we need to discuss this further before making a decision.
So we need to discuss this in more detail, perhaps.
Or we need to discuss this more, or we need to continue discussing this before making a decision.
We need to discuss this further.
Number four, if you have any further questions... feel free to email me.
This is like saying, if you have any additional questions, feel free to email me.
The investigation went further than anyone expected.
It's like saying the investigation went beyond what anyone expected.
Number six, I'd like to further my career by learning new skills.
This is like saying I'd like to advance my career by learning new skills.
So once again, further means more, additional, deeper, to a greater degree, extent, or level.
But we're not talking about distance, right?
That brings us to farther.
Let's hear some examples.
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I want you to think about these.
Um, I had fun creating these questions.
Number one, from your house, which is farther?
The beach or the mountains?
For me, the beach is farther.
I need to drive over four hours to get to the Atlantic, whereas the mountains are right here.
I live in the mountains, in the Appalachian Mountains.
Number two, can you throw the ball farther than your brother or sister?
Hmm.
No.
My brother can definitely throw the ball farther than me.
He's strong and he works out.
I throw like a girl and I am one, so whatever.
Next one, who can swim farther?
You or your best friend?
Hmm.
I would say in this circumstance, Nina might be my best friend.
And that's a good question.
We both like swimming, so I don't know who would swim farther.
I'd need to challenge her to a race, maybe.
I could definitely swim farther than Lucas, though.
Don't tell anyone.
He still doggy paddles.
You get the point.
Farther is all about distance.
Let's sit farther from the stage.
The music is too loud.
In the context of our hike, Julia, Clara, and I went farther than I'd originally planned.
All right, let's move on to the quick quiz.
Further or farther?
Fill in the blanks.
Number one, we need to go into this topic before making a decision.
Further or farther?
We need to go further into this topic before making a decision.
2.
He ran ____ than anyone else in the race.
He ran farther than anyone else in the race.
Number three, let's talk about this tomorrow.
Further or farther here.
Let's talk about this further tomorrow.
Right?
We aren't talking about distance.
We're talking about an abstract idea.
It's further.
The cabin is much down the road.
You got it.
Farther.
The cabin is much farther down the road.
We are talking about distance here.
That's the end of this episode.
So next time you're not sure whether to use further or farther, ask yourself a simple question.
Am I talking about distance?
If not, then further will probably work.
Hope you enjoyed this quick fix episode.
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Bye.
Like someone from the States.
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