# Far vs Far away



## George1992

Hello,

I have three questions.

1) Is there any difference between _*far *_and *far away* in the following sentences? Do you omit *away*?

-> Is it far from here?
-> Is it far away from here? 

2) I would also like to know whether these sentences are correct. Do you omit _*far*_? 

-> The house is 5 miles away from here.
-> The house is 5 miles far away from here.

3) Is this sentence correct without far or away?

-> The house is 5 miles from here.


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## Florentia52

"Is it far from here?" is how I would say it. "Away" adds nothing to the sentence.

"The house is five miles from here." 
"The house is five miles away from here."  This sounds very odd. I would say either "The house is vie miles away" or "The house is five miles from here."
"The house is five miles far away from here."


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## Enquiring Mind

Hi George1992, "the house is five miles away from here" is natural in British English, but the "away" is not necessary.

[In case you haven't come across this book already, Don Sparling deals with "far" and the particular problems it presents for Czech speakers in section 89 "Far" of his excellent 'English or Czenglish' here (pdf file).]


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## zaffy

Florentia52 said:


> "The house is five miles away from here."  This sounds very odd.





Enquiring Mind said:


> The house is five miles away from here" is natural in British English,



Doesn't AE like the "away" version because of the number?
What if there were no number?

_The house is far away from here.
The house is far from here._

Do both AE and BE like those two?


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## Enquiring Mind

_The house is far away from here_ is acceptable ...


> One of Jupiter’s moons might be glowing in the dark. At first glance, this is perhaps unsurprising. Our own moon glows in the dark, reflecting the light of the sun. *Jupiter is far away from here*, but our star still illuminates the planet and its many moons, including the moon Europa. (theatlantic.com - my *bolding*)


... but it probably wouldn't be a native speaker's choice in an affirmative declarative sentence. I'd say: "The house is _a long way_ / _quite a way_ / _a fair way _from here.
_Far (away) _is more likely in a question ["How far (away) is the beach from here?"] or a negative sentence ["the beach isn't far (away) from here"]. In both these sentences I'd be likely to omit the word "away". "Far" already carries the notion of "away".


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## kentix

It's all very subtle. There are so many distinctions in exact contexts.


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## zaffy

Enquiring Mind said:


> _Far (away) _is more likely in a question ["How far (away) is the beach from here?"] or a negative sentence ["the beach isn't far (away) from here"]. In both these sentences I'd be likely to *omit the word "away*". "Far" already carries the notion of "away".



So you would use "away" in examples where the distance is really long, wouldn't you? 

_How far away is China from Europe?
Poland isn't far away form the UK. _


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## Enquiring Mind

_How far away is China from Europe? _and_ Poland isn't far away form the UK _both sound ok to me with or without "away". I'm not sure that distance is the crucial factor.
_The child couldn't reach his cup because it was too far away_ (even if it was only 30 cm away) is fine.


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## zaffy

So can you think of any example that you wouldn't omit "away"?


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## zaffy

Enquiring Mind said:


> _The child couldn't reach his cup because it was too far away_ (even if it was only 30 cm away) is fine.



Does AE like "away" in that example?


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## Loob

zaffy said:


> So can you think of any example that you wouldn't omit "away"?


In a story, maybe.  _A long time ago, and far, far away..._


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## Enquiring Mind

I wouldn't omit "away" when "far away" is functioning as an adverbial phrase, not an adjective.
The Springfields (who ?) sang a song back in the sixties called "Island of Dreams" (I can still remember the words ):
_... High in the sky is a bird on the wing;
Please carry me with you.
Far, far away from the mad, rushing crowd,
Please carry me with you._
Here, we can see that "far away" is functioning as an adverbial phrase, not an adjective, so we can't omit "away".


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## kentix

zaffy said:


> Does AE like "away" in that example?


I would say it's required in that example. Without it, it sounds like a reference to a distance that is being traveled instead of reached.


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## zaffy

How about this? Can I omit 'away'?

A: Did you hear what they were talking about?
B: Nope. I was standing too far away from them.


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## Enquiring Mind

I wouldn't omit "away" in that sentence. It's part of an adverbial phrase ("how/where was I standing?"). On the other hand, when "far" is an adjective:
_I was too far (away) from them. _


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## zaffy

Well, speaking of grammar, I can't really feel the difference between them. Why is one an adverbial phrase and one an adjective?

_I was standing too far away from them.
I was too far (away) from them._


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## Enquiring Mind

I can see the problem: Slavic languages perceive "far" in "I was too far from them" as an adverb. I think it's functioning as an adjective in English:


> far
> adjective (...)
> "the station isn't far - we could easily walk there" (Cambridge).


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## kentix

I think far emphasizes only the destination/other end.
I think far away emphasizes both ends.

As I said in my other comment, it's subtle and there is a huge gray area and room for personal preference.

- How far is it to your house?

- How far away (from here) do you live?


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## zaffy

Enquiring Mind said:


> I can see the problem: Slavic languages perceive "far" in "I was too far from them" as an adverb. I think it's functioning as an adjective in English:


Exactly. It is always an adverb for me. 

And I could add "away" in this Cambridge example, couldn't I? 
"The station isn't far (away). We could easily walk there."




kentix said:


> I think far emphasizes only the destination.
> I think far away emphasizes both ends.


What do you mean by both ends?


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## Enquiring Mind

"The station isn't far (away). We could easily walk there."  Yes, it's ok with or without "away".


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## zaffy

Enquiring Mind said:


> "The station isn't far (away). We could easily walk there." Yes, it's ok with or without "away".


And what if I make a question? Does either work?

A: Is the station far (away)?
B: No, not really. We could walk there.


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## Enquiring Mind

"Is the station far?" (without "away") is acceptable. I think native speakers might prefer "is it far to the station?".


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## zaffy

And you wouldn't add "away" in this example, would you?

A: Where are you going?
B: To the gym.
A: Is it far? Need a lift?
B: No, thanks, I'll take a walk.


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## dojibear

zaffy said:


> And you wouldn't add "away" in this example, would you?
> 
> A: Where are you going?
> B: To the gym.
> A: Is it far? Need a lift?


A gym you drive to is not far enough away to be called "far away". And this question does not say that the gym is "far" or that it is "far away". It could be very near:

A: Where are you going?
B: To the gym.
A: Is it far?
B: No, it is across the street, just 20 meters from here.


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## zaffy

And can you think of context in which you would ask this question? 

"Is it far away?"


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## zaffy

In negations, usually both 'far' and 'far away' work, am I right? Do these all work?

Tom doesn't live far. We can visit him now if you want to.
Tom doesn't live far away. We can visit him now if you want to.
Tom doesn't live far from me. We can visit him now if you want to.
Tom doesn't live far away from me. We can visit him now if you want to.


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## Roxxxannne

They all "work," but they don't mean the same thing to me (as an AmE speaker), and they all depend on context and who is talking to whom.

_Tom doesn't live far. 
Tom doesn't live far from me. _

These imply that it will be relatively easy to get to where Tom is.  But context is important; if I'm talking to my elderly aunt who walks with difficulty, 'not far' has a much smaller radius, so to speak, than if I'm talking to someone who is accustomed to driving 20 or 30 km to get to a grocery store and a gas station.

_Far away_ emphasizes the separation between two points and the difficulty of crossing the distance between them.
_Tom doesn't live far away from me -- he's in Pittsburgh -- but Susie does: it would take me four days to drive to San Francisco from here._


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## zaffy

Roxxxannne said:


> They all "work," but they don't mean the same thing to me (as an AmE speaker),


And do you use 'away' in #14 or not in AE?


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## Roxxxannne

I myself would say "No, I was standing too far away."  I wouldn't bother to say "from them."  "Away" makes that clear in my mind.
But if I asked someone else the question and they said "Nope, I was standing too far away from them,"  I am sure I would not notice that they had said it differently from the way I would say it.


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## kentix

Roxxxannne said:


> _Far away_ emphasizes the separation between two points and the difficulty of crossing the distance between them.





kentix said:


> I think far emphasizes only the destination/other end.
> I think far away emphasizes both ends.


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## zaffy

Roxxxannne said:


> I myself would say "No, I was standing too far away."


Well, I analysed numerous examples given by English natives in a few threads on "far" and "far away" and I must admit there is no real clue for non-natives. I didn't realise it was so confusing. 

And how about these theatre examples? Would you use 'away' or not? 

Well, I didn't see and hear much as I was sitting too far.  
Well, I didn't see and hear much as I was sitting too far away.  
Well, I didn't see and hear much as I was sitting too far from the stage.   
Well, I didn't see and hear much as I was sitting too far away from the stage.


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## kentix

The stage is implied so you can say it or not say it. But, again, you are emphasizing two points - where you were and where the stage was.

- Well, I didn't see and hear much as I was sitting too far.  
- Well, I didn't see and hear much as I was sitting too far away (from the stage). 

This one is also okay because it explicitly indicates the two points.

Well, I didn't see and hear much as *I was sitting [i.e. my seat was]* too far from *the stage*.


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## zaffy

kentix said:


> Well, I didn't see and hear much as I was sitting too far.
> Well, I didn't see and hear much as I was sitting too far away.


And what if we make a question? Say the stage is clear from context. I guess 'far' on its own works, doesn't it?

_Why didn't you hear much? Were you sitting too far?`
Why didn't you hear much? Were you sitting too far away?_


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## kentix

No, you need "away" indicating the contrast in distance with another location, or "from the stage", naming it directly, or both.


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## zaffy

And how about these? Theater context again. 

How far were you sitting? 
How far away were you sitting?
How far from the stage were you sitting?
How far away from the stage were you sitting?


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## kentix

Far is a distance. Far away is a contrast/comparison.

You are driving and stop to ask a passerby:

- How far is it to the next town?

You don't care where you are now, you just care about the distance you need to travel.

- How far away does your boyfriend live?
-- He is at college in a town 120 miles from here.
- That's too bad. It must be hard to see him as often as you might want.

The key meaning is the contrast between the two points. Where she lives and where he lives. They are far apart. The significance to her is not that she is going there right now and needs to know the distance. The significance is that the distance has an ongoing impact on her life (i.e. here).


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## kentix

zaffy said:


> How far were you sitting?


To me this sounds (sort of) like you were traveling by sitting. What distance did you cover while you were sitting?


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## zaffy

kentix said:


> To me this sounds like you were traveling by sitting.


So looks like we need to differentiate between travelling distance (far) and stationary distance (far away). 

Don't tell me these don't work or I'll get devastated. 

_We didn't drive *too far* from the woods. 
We didn't put up the tent *too far away* from the woods._


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## kentix

Like I said, there's a lot of gray area. It depends on point of view in some cases.

- How far is _the next town_? (We're going to drive there no matter what your answer is.)

- How far away is the next town? (We might stay _here_ for lunch instead of getting back in the car and going _there_, if it's a long way.)

Either question could be used for either use, but I think the way I've written it are the best matches.



zaffy said:


> We didn't drive *too far* from the woods.
> We didn't put up the tent *too far away* from the woods


These are mysterious to me. But not because of far and far away. It's the combination of "didn't" and "too far".


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## zaffy

kentix said:


> These are mysterious to me. But not because of far and far away. It's the combination of "didn't" and "too far".


I see. That must have been Polish syntax. How about now?

_Did you drive far from the woods?
Did you put the tent up far away from the woods?  _


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## kentix

Those sound natural to me. Again, the exact context will have the final bearing on what's best.


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## zaffy

Do all of them work?

A: How much time does it take you to get to work?
B: Well, my workplace is far from home so it takes me even two hours.
B: Well, my workplace is far away from home so it takes me even two hours.
B: Well, my workplace is a long way from home so it takes me even two hours.


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## dojibear

They all work. There is a problem with "it takes me even two hours".

Either say "it *takes me *two hours", removing "even", or say "it *can even take me *two hours".

You can also say "it takes me *as long as *two hours". You just can't use "even two hours".


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## Roxxxannne

"Home" sounded a little odd to me at first.   I think of 'home' as having a psychological aura, which the words
apartment/cabin/house/houseboat/etc. do not have.
I'd probably say 'My workplace is far from my house/apartment/where I live" although I would not look askance at someone who says 'far from my home.'  I suspect my avoiding 'home' in a statement about commuting time stems from my having learned English before I encountered the language that real estate agents use: "Lovely two-bedroom home for sale on Maple St."  To me that place on Maple St. is a house, which eventually will be home to the person who buys it.


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## kentix

I agree with Roxxxannne and would go farther. To me, workplace is not idiomatic in a casual question like that and neither is far.

A: How much time *long* does it take you to get to work?

B: Well, my workplace is far from home so it takes me even two hours.
B: Well, my workplace is far away from home so it takes me even two hours.
B: Well, my workplace is a long way from home so it takes me even two hours.

B: It might take up to two hours.
B: It might take me up to two hours.
B: Well, the place I work is a long way from my house so it can take me up to two hours.


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## zaffy

And how about now with 'school'? Say I'm asking some student. One Briton didn't like the "away" version. Which do you prefer? "Far" or "far away"?

A: How long does it take you to get to school?
B: Well, my school is far from my house so it takes me up to one hour.
B: Well, my school is far away from my house so it takes me up to one hour.
B: Well, my school is a long way from my house so it takes me up to one hour.


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## Loob

B: Well, my school is far from my house so it takes me up to one hour.
B: Well, my school is far away from my house so it takes me up to one hour.
B: Well, my school is a long way from my house so it takes me up to one hour.

(I'd also say "up to an hour" rather than "up to one hour".)


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## Roxxxannne

I agree with kentix and Loob. 
Among the three choices in #46, I'd take the sentence that begins 'my school is a long way from my house.'
(actually, I'd use the odd American form 'a long ways').

In reality, among the people I know, I think someone answering the question "How long does it take you to get to school/work?" would not use any of your possible answers.

Since the question is about time, I'd expect the answer to involve the amount of time, rather than the distance:
'about an hour,' or 'half an hour on the train' or something like that.  In general, even if the distance is significant, the people I know who commute within a city, from a suburb to a city, or between towns tend to answer in particular terms, mentioning the ease or difficulty of the commute and the route they take rather than the physical distance.


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## zaffy

Loob said:


> B: Well, my school is far from my house so it takes me up to one hour.
> B: Well, my school is far away from my house so it takes me up to one hour.
> B: Well, my school is a long way from my house so it takes me up to one hour.



Why do some native speakers dislike 'far' and 'far away' in that example? One Briton told me the "far away" version didn't work but the "far" one did. Two Americans liked all of them. That's quite confusing.


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## Uncle Jack

zaffy said:


> Why do some native speakers dislike 'far' and 'far away' in that example? One Briton told me the "far away" version didn't work but the "far" one did. Two Americans liked all of them. That's quite confusing.


I think "far away" has to be in relation to where the speaker currently is, and really it refers to position rather than distance, whether the thing is near here or not.
Is the bus stop far away?​Timbuktu is far away.​The hospital isn't far away.​I think this use is the same in all versions of English, but perhaps not if AmE speakers like your second sentence.

"Far" in BrE can be used in questions about distance:
Is it far to the bus stop? (from here)​Is it far? (referring to some previously mentioned or implied journey)​Is it far from your house to your school?​It is also used in negative statements:
It isn't far to the bus stop.​The bus stop isn't far.​It isn't far from my house my school.​However, it tends not to be used on its own in positive statements, and we prefer "a long way" instead.
It's a long way to the bus stop.​It's a long way from my house to my school.​
There are situations where you might use "far" in a positive statement, particularly with a modifier ("It's quite far", for example), but I think "a long way" is far more common in any positive statement ("It's quite a long way").


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## zaffy

So out of these three, the last one works best in BrE, doesn't it? And out of the two with 'far', which sounds better?
Or do the far versions sound fine because they are modified by 'very'? Would the omission of 'very' change anything?

The sun is very far from the Earth.
The sun is very far away from the Earth.
The sun is a very long way from the Earth.


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## Roxxxannne

To go back to the "two Americans" statement in #49, although I "like" _far from, far away from,_ and _a long way from_ as English phrases, I don't use them interchangeably.  (see #27).

If someone uses them in a way that's different from the way I use them, I don't immediately wonder where the heck they learned English. Americans have all sorts of different quirks in their everyday speech, depending on how old they are, where they live now, where they learned to speak English and who they learned it from, how old they were when they immigrated to the US, what slang they picked up from their friends and children, etc.


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## Uncle Jack

zaffy said:


> So out of these three, the last one works best in BrE, doesn't it? And out of the two with 'far', which sounds better?
> Or do the far versions sound fine because they are modified by 'very'? Would the omission of 'very' change anything?
> 
> The sun is very far from the Earth.
> The sun is very far away from the Earth.
> The sun is a very long way from the Earth.


"The sun is very far away" would be fine in BrE. There is no need for "from the Earth", and it sounds unnatural to me to add it.

I very much prefer "a very long way from the Earth" to "very far from the Earth".


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## kentix

To me a normal answer to a question like "How long does it take you to get to work" might be something like:

- If there's not too much traffic I can usually get there in about 45 minutes.

It answers the time question asked.

B1: Well, my school is far from my house so it takes me up to one hour.
B2: Well, my school is far away from my house so it takes me up to one hour.
B3: Well, my school is a long way from my house so it takes me up to one hour.

I think B3 is the closest to natural. I'd change it a bit.
B3: Well, my school is a long way from my house so it can take me up to an hour.

I think B1 is more natural with something modifying "far".
B1: Well, my school is pretty (or "kind of") far from my house so it can take me up to an hour.

I suppose you could do the same thing to B2 but I don't think it's the most natural use. "Far away" I think is used more often in emphasizing the distance between two things, and not the traveling between them. "How far do you have to travel?" is natural. "How far away do you have to travel?" is not.

"How far" doesn't really matter where you start because it's only about the destination. If you are lost and stop along a road somewhere to ask for directions you ask "How far" something is. "How far is it to the next town?" You don't care where you are now.

With how far away, where you are matters along with the distant place. "How far away was she when you recognized her?" Where you were and where she was at the same time is important.


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## zaffy

Say someone is travelling and looking for the nearest post office. They might ask a passer-by:
'How far is the nearest post office?'

Say someone is looking around a house they are going to buy. They might ask the current owner:
'How far away is the nearest post office? '

Am I right with those interpretations and the usage of far/far away?


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## zFriend

Hello!
I have a question about the phrase "far and away".
_He stood out as being *far and away* the best (candidate or applicant)_.
This means that "he comes over as the best candidate or applicant" or "he comes over as not the best candidate or applicant"?


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## kentix

zaffy said:


> Say someone is travelling and looking for the nearest post office. They might ask a passer-by:
> 'How far is the nearest post office?'
> 
> Say someone is looking around a house they are going to buy. They might ask the current owner:
> 'How far away is the nearest post office? '
> 
> Am I right with those interpretations and the usage of far/far away?


That's how I would use them.


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## zaffy

I asked another Briton on a different forum and he disliked the "far" versions. Well, clearly BrE prefers "a long way from" in affirmative statements. Plus he preferred "home", that AE disliked


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## Roxxxannne

zaffy said:


> Say someone is travelling and looking for the nearest post office. They might ask a passer-by:
> 'How far is the nearest post office?'
> 
> Say someone is looking around a house they are going to buy. They might ask the current owner:
> 'How far away is the nearest post office? '
> 
> Am I right with those interpretations and the usage of far/far away?


Yes, but in reality those are odd questions in those situations.


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## Roxxxannne

My answer doesn't mean that reversing the two sounds crazy, though:
The tourist: 'How far away is the nearest post office?'
The house buyer: 'How far is the nearest post office?'


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## AmericanAbroad

George1992 said:


> Hello,
> 
> I have three questions.
> 
> 1) Is there any difference between _*far *_and *far away* in the following sentences? Do you omit *away*?
> 
> -> Is it far from here?
> -> Is it far away from here?
> 
> 2) I would also like to know whether these sentences are correct. Do you omit _*far*_?
> 
> -> The house is 5 miles away from here.
> -> The house is 5 miles far away from here.
> 
> 3) Is this sentence correct without far or away?
> 
> -> The house is 5 miles from here.


Both far and far away an be used in example 1.  Far alone is the simpler and more elegant construction.  The addition of the word "away" may carry a nuance suggestion that the distance is very far.  In example 2, the first sentence can be used, but it would be more proper to simply say the "The house is 5 miles from here."   The away is superfluous---unless you mean to add the nuance of great distance which I mentioned above.  The second construction is not proper english. You could say, "The house is far away from here."  But you could not say the house is "5 miles far away".  I am not sure what rule is transgressed by this construction but it sounds intuitively bad.  Example 3 is correct and succinct.


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## Uncle Jack

zFriend said:


> Hello!
> I have a question about the phrase "far and away".
> _He stood out as being *far and away* the best (candidate or applicant)_.
> This means that "he comes over as the best candidate or applicant" or "he comes over as not the best candidate or applicant"?


He was the best candidate by a large margin. "Far and away" is a fixed expression.


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## zaffy

Does this sentence work with 'far'?

_I have far to go each day in order to get to school._


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## Loob

In affirmative sentences, unqualified "far" sounds pretty strange/literary.

Several people have said, in comments relating to such contexts, that they prefer "a long way".

I'm pretty sure there are other threads, too.


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