Hello, this is Marcin from Poland and you're listening to Everybody ESL.
Welcome to episode 459 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English or just learn more English.
My name is Ben and I have a mini episode for you today where I am going to teach you about one English topic.
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Okay, let's get on with this mini-episode.
In this episode I'm going to talk about a very specific detail that you might have noticed when you listen to English speakers talk.
I'm thinking about the way English speakers use the word different.
Different.
D-I-F-F-E-R-E-N-T.
Different.
The reason I think this might be interesting is that there are three different phrases that we use the word different in.
When English speakers are comparing two things, they often say that this thing is different from that thing, this is different from that.
Sometimes you will hear people say different than, different than, T-H-A-N.
You will sometimes hear people say this thing is different than that thing.
And there's one other thing you might hear.
You might hear someone say different to.
This thing is different to that thing.
We have different from, different than, and different to.
Do these different phrases all have different meanings?
The good news is no.
They do not have different meanings.
They all mean exactly the same thing.
You will probably never hear an American English speaker say, different to.
When I think of different to, I think of somebody speaking British English.
That leaves different from and different than as phrases that you might hear American speakers of English use.
Why do some people say different from and other people say different than?
I think I know the answer.
I think I understand why some people say different than.
I think it's because when they hear the word different, they hear it as a kind of comparative adjective.
Comparative adjectives are words that often end in ER.
These are words like bigger or shorter or older.
And that's why we can say things like, my father is older than my mother. older than.
When we compare two things by using a comparative adjective, we use than, older than.
We could say, a horse is bigger than a goat.
A horse is bigger than a goat.
I think when some people hear or think of the word different, they think of it as though it is a comparative adjective.
I think because it has that ER in it, different, different.
They use it as though it is a comparative adjective.
And so they say different than in the same way that everybody would say bigger than or older than.
To me, different than always sounds a little bit strange.
I think I usually say different from, but I think it's important that you at least know what you might be hearing.
You might hear people say different from, different than, or different to.
These are all phrases and constructions that you might hear.
And that is different from, different than, and different to.
An interesting detail about English that I think you should know.
This is the end of episode 459 of Everybody ESL.
Remember if you have questions about English or if you have comments for me, Or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes.
The same way, Martine recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode.
Send an email to everybodyesl at gmailcom.
I'll be back soon with a new episode.
And until then, keep going, keep practicing and keep learning.
I'll see you soon.
Goodbye.
