英语语法：142 "Further" Versus "Farther"

Today's topic is "further" versus¹ "farther."

Almost every week someone asks me to explain the difference between “further” and “farther.” Three years ago when I was on the Oprah Winfrey Show, a production assistant grabbed me backstage while my head was still spinning and begged me to give her a way to remember which word to use. So today, I'll try to help you with this continuing conundrum².
"Further" Versus "Farther"
The quick and dirty tip is to use “farther” for physical distance and “further” for metaphorical³, or figurative, distance. It's easy to remember because “farther” has the word “far” in it, and“far” obviously relates to physical distance.
 
For example, imagine Squiggly and Aardvark are flying to galaxy⁴ far, far away, but Squiggly gets bored and starts mercilessly bugging⁵ Aardvark. "How much farther?'" he keeps asking in despair.”
Did you hear that? Squiggly used “farther” because he was asking about physical distance.
If Aardvark gets frustrated⁶ with Squiggly, which he surely will, he could respond, “If you complain further, I'm going to shoot you out the airlock.”
Aardvark used “further” because he isn't talking about physical distance, he's talking about a figurative  distance: the extent of Squiggly's complaining.
More "Further" Versus "Farther" Tips
Sometimes the quick and dirty tip doesn't work because it's hard to decide whether you're talking about physical distance. For example, Lisa asked about the sentence “I'm further along in my book than you are in yours.” You could think of it as a physical distance through the pages and use “farther,” or as a figurative distance through the story and use “further.”

And what if you stop someone in the middle of a sentence to interject something? Do you say “before we go any further,” or “before we go any farther”?
The good news is that in ambiguous cases it doesn't matter which word you choose. Although careful writers will try to stick with the distinction between “further” and “farther,” the Oxford⁷ English Dictionary, Fowler's Modern English Usage, and a number of other sources say that, in most cases, it's fine to use “further” and “farther” interchangeably, especially when the distinction isn't clear. People have been using them interchangeably for hundreds of years, and a few experts don't even follow the distinction. For example, Garner's Modern American Usage notes that in British English, although it's more common for speakers to use “farther” for physical distance, they will regularly use either “further” or “farther” for figurative distance (1).
How to Use "Furthermore"
It is important to remember that “farther” has a tie to physical distance and can't be used to mean “moreover” or “in addition.”
We're nearly out of fuel. Further, there's an asteroid⁸ belt ahead.
A trick I use is to write “furthermore” when I mean “in addition.”
Furthermore, I hope you locked the door when we left.
“Furthermore” is different enough from “further” to keep me from confusing it with “farther.”
Quick and Dirty Tip
The quick and dirty tip is that “farther” relates to physical distance and “further”  relates to figurative distance. If you can't decide which one to use, you're safer using “further” because “farther” has some restrictions⁹, and if you tend to get confused, try using “furthermore” instead of “further.”
Download the Chapter on "Dirty Words" From Grammar Girl's Book
"Further" versus "farther" is just one of the many confusing word choices that Mignon Fogarty covers in the "Dirty Words" chapter of her book, Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing. You can download the chapter by clicking here.

You can order a copy of the paperback¹⁰ edition from any of these online retailers¹¹ or pick one up at your favorite bookstore:

Amazon   Barnes and Noble

Powell’s   Borders

The book is also available in an e-book edition.  You can download a copy wherever e-books are sold.

History
Finally, if you're interested in the history of usage, “further” is the older word and according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary of English Usage (2), it was 1906 when the first usage guide called on writers to make a distinction between “further” and “farther.”

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1 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

2 conundrum   

n.谜语；难题

参考例句：

• Let me give you some history about a conundrum.让我给你们一些关于谜题的历史。
• Scientists had focused on two explanations to solve this conundrum.科学家已锁定两种解释来解开这个难题。

3 metaphorical   

a.隐喻的，比喻的

参考例句：

• Here, then, we have a metaphorical substitution on a metonymic axis. 这样，我们在换喻（者翻译为转喻，一种以部分代替整体的修辞方法）上就有了一个隐喻的替代。
• So, in a metaphorical sense, entropy is arrow of time. 所以说，我们可以这样作个比喻：熵像是时间之矢。

4 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

5 bugging   

[法] 窃听

参考例句：

• Okay, then let's get the show on the road and I'll stop bugging you. 好，那么让我们开始动起来，我将不再惹你生气。 来自辞典例句
• Go fly a kite and stop bugging me. 走开，别烦我。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语

6 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

8 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

9 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

10 paperback   

n.平装本，简装本

参考例句：

• A paperback edition is now available at bookshops.平装本现在在书店可以买到。
• Many books that are out of print are reissued in paperback form.许多绝版的书籍又以平装本形式重新出现。

11 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。