# Different than vs. different from vs. different to



## Kelly B

In a recent post, the questioner used an example that included the phrase "different than". Since that wasn't the point of the question, I thought I'd start a new thread:

I strongly prefer "different from". Do you agree?

<< Now incorporating CarolSueC's thread as well as one by teia_55 and another by cyberpedant - and one started by LouisaB .>>


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## lsp

My personal opinion was that I could go either way, but you made me curious so I researched it. Without exception I found results that support "different from" as standard English; "different than" as nonstandard (and very AE).


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## la grive solitaire

I use both, depending on the sentence. Here's what the CMS has to say:

Q. It has come to my attention, over the last few years, that people are now using the phrase “different than” instead of “different from.” Please warn your readers against this gross misuse of the English language!

A. Yikes—instead, let’s dodge this bullet. Although British English eschews the use of “different than” and Chicago prefers to avoid it, it’s not incorrect, and in fact is sometimes the more elegant choice when followed by a clause. Various dictionaries and grammars support this view, including Fowler’s Modern English Usage and Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary.


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## Amityville

I feel strongly about this one even if the authorities are relaxing. 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but 'Different' comes from 'to differ' and you would surely always say 'x differs from y', and not 'x differs to y' or 'x differs than y' ? Where could 'than' or 'to' be an improvement ?

The only time I can think of that would be acceptable would be in a deliberately self-conscious bending of the rules  involving degrees of difference ( - more-different-than-thou, eg ). 

Even with this :-
 'x is more different from y than z is' 
'yes, x is more different than z' 

the 'from y' is implicit.

Aha   maybe 'different to' is by analogy with 'alternative to'. Would you ever say alternative than or from ?

Back me up, elroy ! (he's not about)


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## Aupick

As a kid I was always told off by my parents for saying 'different to' instead of 'different from', but I was never really tempted by 'different than', which has always grated a bit. Here's my ham-fisted attempt to explain why:

'Than' is usually used to introduce the second element in a comparison (according to Oxford): 'She is smarter than me'. In other words it's used with a marker of comparison ('more', 'less', '-er') along with an adjective or an adverb. 'Than' doesn’t really work without that marker. The sentence 'She is smarter than me' should probably be read as 'She is smart [er than] me', with the [er than] constituting more of a 'word' than 'than'.
'Different' isn't a comparative, and doesn't have a marker of comparison. It kind of leaves 'than' incomplete, bereft of it's better half.  

The other main use of 'than' is in combination with words like _rather_ ('I'd rather play at Wimbledon than watch it on TV') or _other_ ('I was unable to do anything other than fall to my knees and weep'), but 'rather' was originally a comparative (of the adjective 'rathe', according to Oxford, meaning 'blooming early in the year'  ), and I wouldn’t be surprised if 'other' was too (since it ends in 'er').

Another way to look at it (if anyone’s still awake...) is to think of maths: '<' means 'greater than', '>' means less than. Different is just '=' with a line through it.


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## cuchuflete

I'd rather be different than boring!  Is that different from the usages under discussion?


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## Aupick

cuchuflete said:
			
		

> I'd rather be different than boring! Is that different from the usages under discussion?


rather + than  

'Different than' works here because 'different' is one of the two ideas being compared (along with boring), and the combination 'rather than' is there to mediate their relationship. ('Different' and 'than' happen to be next to each other in the sentence, but they're not working together.)

...whereas as in disputed cases (eg 'Brits are different than Americans') 'different' and 'than' are trying to work together (shakily) to mediate the two ideas being compared (Brits and Americans).


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## panjandrum

la grive solitaire said:
			
		

> Although British English eschews the use of “different than” and Chicago prefers to avoid it, it’s not incorrect, and in fact is sometimes the more elegant choice when followed by a clause. Various dictionaries and grammars support this view, including Fowler’s Modern English Usage and Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary.


I would never have believed it - so I checked - and sure enough, Fowler includes arguments for all three (from, than, to). It does, however, advise against "different from *than*" in Britain


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## timpeac

panjandrum said:
			
		

> I would never have believed it - so I checked - and sure enough, Fowler includes arguments for all three (from, than, to). It does, however, advise against "different from" in Britain


 
I know that I instinctively say "different to" because I had a French teacher once who, rightly, took issue with the fact I had written "différent à" in my essay rather than "différent de" but he used, wrongly, the argument that this should be obvious since in English we say "different from". When I informed him that I certainly didn't he was less than impressed. But hey, he was an idiot and I let in all go a long time ago after extensive therapy.


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## cuchuflete

I have a favorite old book that reeks of common sense: * A Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage,* Evans, Bergen and Evans, C.  Random House,NY 1957.

Some excerpts...


> *
> than *is used in making comparisons of inequality, or comparisons beteen things that are said to be dissimilar. It is used only in combination with the comparative form of an adjective or adverb or with one of the four words, _other, rather, different, else._





> _
> Than_ is usually classed as a coordinating conjunction, which means that the words it joins in a comparison have the same function in the sentence.



In the entry for "different from, different than", the authors tell us that..."different than can be found in the writings of Addison, Steele, Defoe, Richardson, Goldsmith, Coleridge, DeQuincey, Carlyle, Thackeray, and a great many others...John Maynard Keynes, another master of clear and beautiful prose, wrote: 'How different things appear in Washington than in London.' "

Thanks to whomever started this thread...it's helping me learn English.

Cuchu


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## Kelly B

My pleasure! I appreciate all the contributions, and given the level of support for "different than" I shall try not to cringe when I hear/see it.... I'll probably continue to choose "from" for my own use, though.


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## Nick

It's not an exact replacement. You can't just take out "than" and insert "from".

It's different *than* I thought it would be.
It's different *from what* I thought it would be.


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## CarolSueC

I am interested in learning whether the BE "different to" is used in other English-speaking countries and whether the AE "different than" is used beyond North America or not.  Also is "different from" (preferred for both AE and BE*) heard often among BE speakers or not? 
*_Cambridge History of English Language, V. VI_, _p. 334._


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## shamblesuk

Depends on the context but I would not expect to hear 'different than' apart from in a context such as:

'I went to Italy and it was a lot different than I expected'

Predominantly we use 'different to' rather than 'different from'. Again, depends on the context.


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## Kelly B

I do not know whether the information here is accurate, but it sounds roughly right: http://www.alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxdiffer.html


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## CarolSueC

Thank you, Kelly, for the link.  That is precisely the kind of information I sought.  I would have expected the "different to" for UK to be higher, but my experience is primarily with British films and TV or novels that reflect spoken  usage.  I still am curious whether the "different to" is heard in Australia and New Zealand.


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## teia_55

Hi

 What are the situations we can use "different to" and "different from" in sentences?  
I would use "different from" . but I`ve heard [watching TV] sentences  in which "different to" is also used. I`m sorry but I can`t remember the exact context.


Thank you

Teia


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## TrentinaNE

In AE, things _differ from_ each other, and therefore _are different from_ each other. In BE, it's common to hear that things _are different to_ each other, but do people also say things _differ to_ each other?

Elisabetta


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## foxfirebrand

TrentinaNE said:
			
		

> In AE, things _differ from_ each other, and therefore _are different from_ each other. In BE, it's common to hear that things _are different to_ each other, but do people also say things _differ to_ each other?


I can't think of any instances in AE where we'd use "differ to," and the same applies to what you've already said about "different to."

I know the Brits supposedly use it, but to me it always sounds like someone is translating their vocabulary into English but retaining their idiom.  Like saying "depend of" instead of "depend on" (which admittedly makes less sense).
.


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## Brian P

You will sometimes hear "different than".  It was orignally AE but I have recently heard it used several times in the UK.  In my opinion this is incorrect usage but I would appreciate the opinions of other anglophones.


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## lsp

Brian P said:
			
		

> You will sometimes hear "different than".  It was orignally AE but I have recently heard it used several times in the UK.  In my opinion this is incorrect usage but I would appreciate the opinions of other anglophones.


That's how the thread starts off...


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## cyberpedant

Different to, from, than. Which do *you* say? 
e.g.:
This flower is different to that one.
This flower is different from that one.
This flower is different than that one.
Do you consider any of these *incorrect*?
Which English do you speak, e.g. AE, BE, other.


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## .   1

This flower is different to that one.

Other (Australian)

.,,


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## susanb

cyberpedant said:


> Different to, from, than. Which do *you* say?
> e.g.:
> This flower is different to that one.
> This flower is different from that one.
> This flower is different than that one.
> Do you consider any of these *incorrect*?
> Which English do you speak, e.g. AE, BE, other.



For me it is always *different from *the correct grammar, however I'm learning there are so many exceptions to the rule that ...
I'm learning BE


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## Sabelotodo

I would say _different from_.  I would consider _different to_ and _different than_ to be incorrect--in fact, if my students write those, I mark them incorrect and deduct points.

I've noticed that these phrases come up in the forums periodically and there is never agreement.


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## la reine victoria

Different from gets my vote.






LRV


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## panjandrum

This flower is not the same as that one.

My point is not frivolous.
There is no reason for me to use *different* in this particular context.
...
And *different from* is really clunky in my ears.


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## rsweet

teia_55 said:


> Hi
> 
> What are the situations we can use "different to" and "different from" in sentences?
> I would use "different from" . but I`ve heard [watching TV] sentences  in which "different to" is also used. I`m sorry but I can`t remember the exact context.
> Thank you
> 
> Teia



If you are using a noun or a word/phrase/clause that functions as a noun, I was taught to use "different from."
"Italy is different from what I expected." "Italy is different from Germany."

If "different" is followed by a phrase or clause, I was taught to use "than."
"Italy is different than I expected it to be.

This "different to" thing has thrown me for a loop though. I'd never heard of it before.


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## LouisaB

Hi, everybody,

1. Our laws are very different from yours.
2. Our laws are very different than yours.
3. Our laws are very different to yours.

Which would you use?

I've always used the form 'different *from'*, following the pattern 'digress _from', _'divert _from' _etc etc. I'd also say 'I differ *from* you'.

But since I've been on this forum, I've seen both the other constructions used frequently by people whose language skills I respect - and by BE speakers as well as AE. To me, 'than' is for _specific_ comparisons, eg 'bigger than,' 'whiter than', and I cannot understand the use of 'to' at all.

Am I completely wrong about this? I'd be grateful for your opinions.

Louisa


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## Sallyb36

number 3 is correct.


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## sweetpotatoboy

Yes, I'm sure there must be lots of good threads on this. And there are certainly major differences between AE and BE in this respect. 

I would say that in BE "from" will almost always be correct and the most commonly used (though "to" is creeping in in certain contexts). In the example you give, I would certainly only use "from".


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## LouisaB

Sallyb36 said:


> number 3 is correct.


 
Hi, Sally,

That's interesting, because you're a BE speaker, like me. Is there a rule or an analogy to explain why you'd use 'to'? I just don't quite get it.



sweetpotatoboy said:


> Yes, I'm sure there must be lots of good threads on this. And there are certainly major differences between AE and BE in this respect.
> 
> I would say that in BE "from" will almost always be correct and the most commonly used (though "to" is creeping in in certain contexts). In the example you give, I would certainly only use "from".


 
Hi, sweetpotatoboy,

I thought there'd be lots of threads on this too, but I searched before I posted (with the key words 'different from' and 'different than') and came up with zilch. If you've found one, I'd be grateful for a direction!

I've noticed 'to' creeping in recently as well, but I don't know why.


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## Sallyb36

Louisa, I'm sorry, but I can't explain why!!


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## cuchuflete

I would normally use 'from' for a comparison pointing out a distinction.  I see a fair number of "than's", mostly from BE speakers, and as a result of this forum, and prolonged exposure, they are no longer so jarring.   "To" sounds awkward to my AE ears.

Could you actually say something like this?

My recipe for Japanese quince jam is different to yours; I omit the sugar.


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## Sallyb36

cuchuflete said:


> I would normally use 'from' for a comparison pointing out a distinction.  I see a fair number of "than's", mostly from BE speakers, and as a result of this forum, and prolonged exposure, they are no longer so jarring.   "To" sounds awkward to my AE ears.
> 
> Could you actually say something like this?
> 
> *My recipe for Japanese quince jam is different to yours; I omit the sugar*.



Yes, that's exactly how I would say it.


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## cuchuflete

Thanks Sally,

I guess I'll have to keep that in mind when listening to, or reading things from your part of the world.  Is this usage particular to your city, or is it widespread in the UK?


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## Sallyb36

It's widespread throughout the UK.


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## LouisaB

Sallyb36 said:


> Louisa, I'm sorry, but I can't explain why!!


 
Nothing to be embarrassed about - there are loads of things I say in my native tongue that I couldn't begin to explain!  Maybe it's to do with what you're used to, and whether something simply 'sounds right'.

I have to admit that although 'to' is surely the _least_ logical of the three constructions, because 'to' brings you closer, where 'from' takes you further away, cuchuflete's example doesn't actually jar with me at all - whereas 'than' sets my teeth on edge. I _have no idea why!_

On the other hand, I'd still agree with sweetpotatoboy that 'from' is more generally considered 'correct' in the UK.


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## Sallyb36

hhhmmmmm, maybe it's more regional to use to than I realised, I'll have to listen out for it!!


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## LouisaB

Maybe it's just that 'from' is more correct, but 'to' is growing more common. It wouldn't be the first time an 'incorrect' usage started to dominate (and change) a language - and this one wouldn't bother me too much, since the meaning is still absolutely clear.

Can I ask, though - would you say 'I differ *from* you in this respect' or 'I differ *to* you in this respect'?


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## Sallyb36

I would say *I differ from *always..


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## panjandrum

LouisaB said:


> [...]
> I thought there'd be lots of threads on this too, but I searched before I posted (with the key words 'different from' and 'different than') and came up with zilch. If you've found one, I'd be grateful for a direction![...]


The previous threads have been found and today's added to the compendium.  I found it by looking for different in the WR dictionary.  At the bottom of the definitions is a list of all the threads with different in their title.

This provokes me to make two points:
*First,* that very often the quickest way to find previous threads about a topic is to look up a key word in the dictionary.
*Second,* to point out that this is why we are so keen that thread titles should be meaningful - they are automatically linked to the dictionary definitions.

Now, what was the topic again?


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## panjandrum

Quoting old Fowler again:


> That different can only be followed by _from_ and not by _to_ is a superstition.  _To_ is found in writers of all ages, and the principle on which it is rejected (you do not say _differ to_: therefore you cannot say _different to_) involves a hasty and ill-defined generalisation.


  The OED says that _from_ is usual; _to_ is often used and frequent colloquially, but is by many considered incorrect; and it lists 15 notable writers who used _than_


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## LouisaB

panjandrum said:


> Quoting old Fowler again:
> The OED says that _from_ is usual; _to_ is often used and frequent colloquially, but is by many considered incorrect; and it lists 15 notable writers who used _than_


 
Oops. I am clearly one of Fowler's hasty and ill-defined generalisers... 

But I'm intrigued all the same. Does Fowler give any reason for his belief that it's wrong to extrapolate 'different from'? from 'differ from'? 'Different' does derive from the same source, doesn't it? Why would it act differently in this form?  

Burchfield explains the use of 'to' as deriving from 'dissimilar to', but this really does seem to me a false analogy, as it's not prefaced by 'di' (diverge, divert, digress) meaning 'split away', but 'dis' (dislike, discomfort, disallow) meaning 'un', a straight negative, and thus obeys the same construction as its root, ie 'similar'.

It's not one I feel strongly about, and 'to' doesn't offend me in the least, perhaps because I hear it so often. But I'm intrigued, that's all. I'd like to know if there _is_ (or even _was) _a correct form - because it would seem so very strange if there were not.


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## panjandrum

Now I'm back with New Fowler, in which Burchfield says much the same as Old Fowler 
He notes early examples of each: from - 1590, to - 1526, than - 1644.
He suggests that in the 20th century from began to dominate BE, than has flourished in AE along with from.

As for the logic?
No logic is presented.  But a suggestion that there is no logical reason why "... all words in the same morphological family should be construed with the same prepositions."  We say:
according to, accords with;
full of, filled with;
pride in, proud of.
Why should different be different


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## LV4-26

Until I'm told that _different from_ has become totally incorrect, I'll stick to that one, as I have difficulties with the other two.  Though I'm not entirely sure I haven't been using _different than_, here and there.


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## LouisaB

panjandrum said:


> As for the logic?
> No logic is presented. But a suggestion that there is no logical reason why "... all words in the same morphological family should be construed with the same prepositions." We say:
> according to, accords with;
> full of, filled with;
> pride in, proud of.
> Why should different be different


 
That's a really good point. I think there _are _distinctions in those examples (eg there's a definitely different emphasis between 'full of' and 'filled with') but it's still a good moral, that one cannot automatically assume the same prepostion in all forms.

Also, while I was writing that last paragraph, I nearly wrote 'there's a different emphasis _in...'_ So how consistent am I??  

However, I'd still personally push for 'different from', because (I think) it's following the usual linguistic form for 'ent', ie an effective participle, more usually expressed by 'ing'. It's used to mean simply 'differing' - and surely you would differ *from*? It's that old thing about 'to' bringing you nearer, and 'from' taking you further away that I mentioned before.

Still, this is really interesting. I bet there are some really good arguments for the other forms too.


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## ricardoii

Hello everybody. I have a question. What phrase is correct between the following:

-x is different to y, z and w.
-x is different than y, z and w.


Thanks a lot

(Maybe this has been posted before, I just did not find it)


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## Tresley

ricardoii said:


> Hello everybody. I have a question. What phrase is correct between the following:
> 
> -x is different to y, z and w.
> -x is different than y, z and w.
> 
> 
> Thanks a lot
> 
> (Maybe this has been posted before, I just did not find it)


 
I hope this helps.


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## mjscott

I don't think I've heard different _to_--is it used in Math in the United Kingdom?

I think I would say
-x is different from y, z and w.

Maybe I'm just not into my game tonight....
(too many turkey leftovers....)


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## Tresley

mjscott said:


> I don't think I've heard different _to_--is it used in Math in the United Kingdom?
> 
> I think I would say
> -x is different from y, z and w.
> 
> Maybe I'm just not into my game tonight....
> (too many turkey leftovers....)


 
DIFFERENT FROM??

What do you mean?

Diffrent from? I have never heard this strange expression.

It's always "different to"


Please explain more..............


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## mjscott

Really?
Would you say, "This is different to that."?
I would say, "This is different from that."

Interesting....


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## ricardoii

Thanks for your answers, so I think is a common mistake to employ "different than" (I've heard it several times) and I am believing that depending on which side of the atlantic you are, you would hear "different from" (new for me) or "different to".

Thanks again!!!


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## xebonyx

It's definitely different _from_ in this sense. 

By saying different *from* you are *taking it out* a pool of possibilities; x  is among w,y,z, and when you look at it it differs. You are making a general statement about x in comparison to w,y, and z. 

Using different to means in something's opinion, i believe. It is impossible touse _different to_ to refer to w,y,z because they are inanimate. However, x can look different to a person in relation to w,y,z.


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## Dimcl

Tresley said:


> DIFFERENT FROM??
> 
> What do you mean?
> 
> Diffrent from? I have never heard this strange expression.
> 
> It's always "different to"
> 
> 
> Please explain more..............


 
Apples and oranges are different from grapes.  
Snow and rain are different from fog.
Dogs and cats are different from elephants.


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## Quelqu'un

Wow. Maybe British English is radically different from American English. Here the only correct option is DIFFERENT FROM. Not different to or different than.

This is truly intriguing.


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## Dimcl

Quelqu'un said:


> Wow. Maybe British English is radically different from American English. Here the only correct option is DIFFERENT FROM. Not different to or different than.
> 
> This is truly intriguing.


 
I'm not so sure about that, Quelqu'un.  I'm an old-enough Canadian to have been taught primarily the British ways of speaking English and have conversed with many folks from Britain and can't think of an instance where I've heard "different to".  I will admit to having heard "different than" which, to my mind, isn't incorrect but I would definitely notice if "different to" were used in this context.  If Tresley would only come back and explain...


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## gaer

link

The phrases _different from_ and _different than_ are both common in British and American English. The British also use the construction _different to._

This is new information for me.

As for the use of "from" vs. "than", it is one of those ongoing disputes that goes round and round and round and round. 

Gaer


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## GEmatt

I've consistently been taught _different to_ and _different from _(BE), the rationale being that _than _denotes a comparison of _greater extent., _i.e. a comparison in the "same direction".

The new building is taller _than_ the old one.
Judy did better in her exams _than_ Peter.

Different _to _works simply as a juxtaposition of the objects of comparison, and different _from_ comes from the verbal use, "to differ from".

We were never taught that different _than _was wrong, strictly speaking; it just never entered the discussion at all. Better the devil you know


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## Tresley

Good morning all!

I was very interested in your answers to this question. I had to go to bed last night and was eager to see other replies to this question this morning.

I didn't know that "different from" or "different than" were considered to be correct expressions. I was very surprised when I read the answers given by foreros on the other side of the Atlantic. The usual expression in the UK is "different to".

I have found this on the American dictionary site "Dictionary.com", that seems to explain quite clearly:

http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/g02.html

This dictionary ackowledges that "different to" is chiefly British.

I would phrase the examples given on the above website as follows:

"Apples are different to peaches".
"My selection is different to yours"
"The event turned out to be different to what I expected"
"The college is different to how it was when I was at school"

It wouldn't have ever entered my head to use either "different from" or "different than" in any of the expressions quoted on Dictionary.com.

I hope this helps.


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## panjandrum

The latest thread on this topic has just been added to previous discussions.
It may be worth looking back at earlier comments.


> The previous threads have been found and today's added to the compendium. I found it by looking for *different* in the WR dictionary. At the bottom of the definitions is a list of all the threads with different in their title.
> 
> This provokes me to make two points:
> *First,* that very often the quickest way to find previous threads about a topic is to look up a key word in the dictionary.
> *Second,* to point out that this is why we are so keen that thread titles should be meaningful - they are automatically linked to the dictionary definitions.
> 
> Now, what was the topic again?


Panj
(Mod)


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## cuchuflete

This thread is _similar *to*_ others and _different *from*_ threads about applesauce cake.


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## mjscott

Yeah, cuchuflete!
Different pushes them away *from* each other--
--similar brings them *to*gether!


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## rodoke

I generally use _than_, and sometimes _from_.  I have heard of but never heard anyone say _different *to*_.  

My opinion: The meanings of all three are clear, and none of the expressions can mean anything else; I don't really care one way or the other.


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## Victoria32

Kelly B said:


> In a recent post, the questioner used an example that included the phrase "different than". Since that wasn't the point of the question, I thought I'd start a new thread:
> 
> I strongly prefer "different from". Do you agree?
> 
> << Now incorporating CarolSueC's thread as well as one by teia_55 and another by cyberpedant - and one started by LouisaB .>>


ABSOLUTELY DEFINITELY!!!!

There's no way "different than" can possibly be anything but wrong. The way I see it is, consider the word differ. 
"Geese differ from ducks". You can't say "Geese _differ_ than ducks". 

"Differ to" grates less, but it is still wrong.

In this case (as in others) I am happy to be a prescriptivist.


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## gaer

I would only write "different from" to avoid being stoned by prescriptivists.  

Gaer


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## .   1

I would only write 'different from' to avoid stoned prescriptivists.

.,,


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## panjandrum

Victoria32 said:


> [...]
> The way I see it is, consider the word differ.
> "Geese differ from ducks". You can't say "Geese _differ_ than ducks".
> 
> "Differ to" grates less, but it is still wrong.
> 
> In this case (as in others) I am happy to be a prescriptivist.


See earlier report from New Fowler's Modern English Usage:


> ... there is no logical reason why "... all words in the same morphological family should be construed with the same prepositions." We say:
> according to, accords with;
> full of, filled with;
> pride in, proud of.
> Why should different be different


Although *different than* would never come naturally to me, it clearly does to a very large proportion of the native English-speaking population, and it has been used by writers of note. Here is what the OED has to say on this topic:


> The usual construction is now with _from_; that with _to_ (after _unlike_, _dissimilar to_) is found in writers of all ages, and is frequent colloquially, but is by many considered incorrect. The construction with _than_ (after _other than_), is found in Fuller, Addison, Steele, De Foe, Richardson, Goldsmith, Miss Burney, Coleridge, Southey, De Quincey, Carlyle, Thackeray, Newman, Trench, and Dasent, among others: see F. Hall _Mod. English_ iii. 82.


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## Victoria32

gaer said:


> I would only write "different from" to avoid being stoned by prescriptivists.
> 
> Gaer


But then if stoned, you could always _*duck!  *_


panjandrum said:


> See earlier report from New Fowler's Modern English Usage:
> Although *different than* would never come naturally to me, it clearly does to a very large proportion of the native English-speaking population, and it has been used by writers of note. Here is what the OED has to say on this topic:


Yes, but... it still grates on my nerves! Sorry...


----------



## jimvano

At *alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxdiffer.html* I found 
these interesting statistics.  

"The Collins Cobuild Bank of English shows choice of 
preposition after 'different' to be distributed as follows:

                "from"  "to"    "than"
                -----   ----    ------
U.K. writing    87.6    10.8     1.5
U.K. speech     68.8    27.3     3.9
U.S. writing    92.7     0.3     7.0
U.S. speech     69.3     0.6    30.1"


----------



## Loob

jimvano said:


> At *alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxdiffer.html* I found
> these interesting statistics.
> 
> "The Collins Cobuild Bank of English shows choice of
> preposition after 'different' to be distributed as follows:
> 
> "from" "to" "than"
> ----- ---- ------
> U.K. writing 87.6 10.8 1.5
> U.K. speech 68.8 27.3 3.9
> U.S. writing 92.7 0.3 7.0
> U.S. speech 69.3 0.6 30.1"


 
Hello jimvano, and welcome to the forums

Interesting statistics, which bear out previous discussions in the forums, which I think have concluded that AmE usage alternates between "different from" and "different than" whereas BrE usage alternates between "different to" and "different from".

Personally, I've always envied the flexibility of AmE "different than".  Sadly, I can't say it...


----------



## icecreamsoldier

CarolSueC said:


> I still am curious whether the "different to" is heard in Australia and New Zealand.


We use "different from" and "different to" rather interchangeably.

As stated in many posts in this thread there are instances where "than" is preferable, but these are exceptions to common usage, the most frequent of which I believe is in the case of omission such as:

"The results came out different than expected."

(i.e. different from/to what we had expected)


----------



## Blootix

_Different from_ is undisputed, so in writing, I would always use _different from_ to avoid contention.  _Different than_ and _different to_, to me, are both substandard constructions to be used in speech only.  In California, people use _different than_ almost exclusively in speech, but few people would actually write _different than_ on an assignment.


----------



## gaer

Blootix said:


> _Different from_ is undisputed, so in writing, I would always use _different from_ to avoid contention. _Different than_ and _different to_, to me, are both substandard constructions to be used in speech only. In California, people use _different than_ almost exclusively in speech, but few people would actually write _different than_ on an assignment.


Are you sure "different to" is considered substandard in places such as England and Australia?


----------



## Blootix

gaer said:


> Are you sure "different to" is considered substandard in places such as England and Australia?


Nope, and that's why I said "to me" they're substandard.  

EDIT: I looked it up in Gardner, and it says that _different than_ is inferior to _different from_ and that _different to_ is undisputed in BrE.  So I guess it's not substandard in the UK.  I have never heard anyone using _different to_ in the United States though.  I guess it makes sense if you think of it as "different when compared to."


----------



## Loob

_Different to_ is undisputed in BrE???

It's evidently time to repeat panj's excellent quote from the OED (see eg post 70):



> The usual construction is now with _from_; that with _to_ (after _unlike_, _dissimilar to_) is found in writers of all ages, and is frequent colloquially, but is by many considered incorrect. The construction with _than_ (after _other than_), is found in Fuller, Addison, Steele, De Foe, Richardson, Goldsmith, Miss Burney, Coleridge, Southey, De Quincey, Carlyle, Thackeray, Newman, Trench, and Dasent, among others: see F. Hall _Mod. English_ iii. 82.


----------



## gaer

Loob said:


> _Different to_ is undisputed in BrE???
> 
> It's evidently time to repeat panj's excellent quote from the OED (see eg post 70):


I'd go with Panj's quote too, but I'd add my own comment from well over a year ago:



gaer said:


> I would only write "different from" to avoid being stoned by prescriptivists.
> 
> Gaer


That was my attempted humorous response to the whole thread, which was already quite circular and continues to be.


----------



## Arrius

In and after WW II, at least in London, *different from* was the only form I ever heard used. When I went up to Hull in Yorkshire in 1955, it struck me that all the locals were saying* different to*, which was entirely new to me. Over the years _different to_ migrated southwards, gradually replacing _different from_ or , at least, becoming an equally popular form, until *different than* started to creep in from the States maybe 25 years ago. Now one hears politicians, top British scientists and other experts using it on the BBC. I even heard the quintessentially English Joanna Lumley use it last week! I, personally, still never use any form but _different from_, but this seems to be obsolescent in the UK.


----------



## johndot

> *A Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage,* Evans, Bergen and Evans, C. Random House,NY 1957.


 *cuchuflete:*
You quote (in post #11) from the above tome: 'How different things appear in Washington than in London', but this isn’t comparable because it refers to a difference between the appearances of Washington and London, not a ‘Washington different than London’. In any event, Keynes, as an essayist, would have written in his own _style_ and might have allowed himself some prosaic licence in favour of it (although as a mathematician he should have known better _than_ to use _than_ in that sentence, which, with all due respect to JMK notwithstanding, I would have written thus: “How different things appear in Washington by comparison with London Town.”)

In *panjandrum*’s post #45 he says that the OED lists “15 notable writers” who used ‘different than’; well , that may be—but are they contemporary writers? Were the usages of the same construction as the phrases that have been used throughout this thread? Were any of the usages ‘contrived’ (i.e. did they depend on style or poetic licence)? Could any of the sentences have been  written differently from _and better than _the renderings chosen so as to avoid the confrontational dilemma with our three prepositions?



> from *LouisaB* post #49
> However, I'd still personally push for 'different from', because (I think) it's following the usual linguistic form for 'ent', ie an effective participle, more usually expressed by 'ing'. It's used to mean simply 'differing' - and surely you would differ *from*? It's that old thing about 'to' bringing you nearer, and 'from' taking you further away that I mentioned before.


 *But*, on the other hand, going _to_ takes you _from!_



> from* cuchuflete* post #64
> This thread is _similar *to*_ others and _different *from*_ threads about applesauce cake.


 Is everyone making a note of this?...




> from *mjscott *post #65
> Yeah, cuchuflete!
> Different pushes them away *from* each other--
> --similar brings them *to*gether!


 ...and this?


As far as I’m concerned, the only way to say it is *different from*, because of _apart from, away from, removed from, separate from..._

... closely followed, if necessary, by *different to*,

... but *different than*, never. Ever.


----------



## timpeac

johndot said:


> ... but *different than*, never. Ever.


Never's a big word. What about Cuchuflete's Washington London example that you say (correctly in my opinion) is not quite the same thing? How about "he is even more different than he was yesterday"? Perhaps not the most elegant of sentences, but is it ungrammatical?


----------



## johndot

But that’s a comparative!


----------



## timpeac

johndot said:


> But that’s a comparative!


 Sure, that's my point! I'm saying that you can't just proscribe "different than" you have to take its syntactic context into account. So it's not as easy as telling people to avoid the phrase all together.


----------



## johndot

No, sorry, I disallow that. We’re talking about _different from/than/to,_ not more than, less than. Nor differenter than!


----------



## timpeac

johndot said:


> No, sorry, I disallow that. We’re talking about _different from/than/to,_ not more than, less than. Nor differenter than!


Just as I disallow the statement "but _different than_, never. Ever", for the reason that it is incorrect. It's a little more than pedantry - I think that the reason that there is such confusion over this comes, at least in part, from confusion over the syntactic context (and difference in local usage of course).


----------



## johndot

Aha! I see what you’re getting at. But if you re-read the last three lines if that post (#81), you’ll see that I wrote (in light-hearted vein after the body of the post), 



> *As far as I’m concerned*, the only was to say it is *different from*, because of _apart from, away from, removed from, separate from..._
> 
> ... closely followed, if necessary, by *different to*,
> 
> ... but *different than*, never. Ever.


----------



## Ynez

You can count on us, foreigners, to keep "different from" alive. 

Google search:

12.300.000 de "different to"
27.900.000 de "different than"
92.700.000 de "different from"


----------



## gaer

timpeac said:


> Just as I disallow the statement "but _different than_, never. Ever", for the reason that it is incorrect. It's a little more than pedantry - I think that the reason that there is such confusion over this comes, at least in part, from confusion over the syntactic context (and difference in local usage of course).


Tim, back in November of 2006, I wrote:

"I would only write 'different from' to avoid being stoned by prescriptivists."

Actually, I really do write only "different from" now, because I've been trying to avoid being hit by stones for the past two years. 

In fact, I am now a "from" crusader and will start my personal compaign to teach all Australians to avoid the dreaded "different to".

These things are *important*. The future of our language is at stake.


----------



## Victoria32

Arrius said:


> In and after WW II, at least in London, *different from* was the only form I ever heard used. When I went up to Hull in Yorkshire in 1955, it struck me that all the locals were saying* different to*, which was entirely new to me. Over the years _different to_ migrated southwards, gradually replacing _different from_ or , at least, becoming an equally popular form, until *different than* started to creep in from the States maybe 25 years ago. Now one hears politicians, top British scientists and other experts using it on the BBC. I even heard the quintessentially English Joanna Lumley use it last week! I, personally, still never use any form but _different from_, but this seems to be obsolescent in the UK.


It seems there's been movement in this thread that I hadn't seen... As far as New Zealand goes, things have changed in the direction Arrius mentions. The influence of Hollywood and Microsoft and the fact that a good three quarters of all New Zealanders have a rather little brother to big one attitude towards all things American means, that I constantly hear 'different than' here in New Zealand. There's utterly not point in my telling a 20-something that 'different than' is wrong, she's heard it on _The O.C., 90210 _etc, and she won't be persuaded. (As someone said on the radio, probably ironically, years ago), "If it's American, it _must_ be good!"...
Grr..
Vicky


----------



## la petite fille anglaise

Just to add my opinion, as a BE native speaker, _*different from*_ is ALWAYS correct. _Different than _sounds too american and although a growing number of people use _different to_ in England, I don't view this as being correct.

In my opinion, different to [noun] = different from that which [is adjective]. Different to can only be used in this context, but only where it is VERY informal, and it should never be used in written English.


----------



## LuisVillegas

Hi, everybody.

Here is a good explanation taken from: http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxdiffer.html

"Different from" is the construction that no one will object to.
"Different to" is fairly common informally in the U.K., but rare in
the U.S.  <-- deleted -->

The Collins Cobuild Bank of English shows choice of preposition
after "different" to be distributed as follows:

"from"

U.K. writing 87.6
U.K. speech 68.8
U.S. writing 92.7
U.S. speech 69.3

"to"

U.K. writing 10.8
U.K. speech 27.3
U.S. writing 0.3
U.S. speech 0.6

"than"

U.K. writing 1.5
U.K. speech 3.9
U.S. writing 7.0
U.S. speech 30.1​However, Google search results tell that the order of usage is the following:

1. Different from: The most used.
2. Different than: The second most used.
3. Different to: The third most used.

Best regards,

Luis R. Villegas H.
Mexico.


----------



## panjandrum

That's the second time the Collins Cobuild statistics have been quoted in  this thread (see post #72).
I'd better check the BNC and COCA.
BNC
to - 483
from - 3278
than - 51
COCA
to - 349
from - 11939
than - 3283


johndot wondered if the OED examples I referred to were contemporary writers.
 The construction with _than_ (after _other than_), is  found in Fuller, Addison, Steele, De Foe, Richardson, Goldsmith, Miss  Burney, Coleridge, Southey, De Quincey, Carlyle, Thackeray, Newman,  Trench, and Dasent, among others: see F. Hall _Mod. English_ iii.  82
Hmm. Even stretching the definition of contemporary a long way, I think not


----------



## PULPANKER

Barron TOEFL says that the correct form is *different from*.


----------



## mplsray

PULPANKER said:


> Barron TOFLE says that the correct form is *different from*.



The entry "different from, than, to" in Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage concludes with the following:


> In summary we can say that there need have been no problem here at all, since all three expressions have been in standard use since the 16th and 17th centuries and all three continue to be in standard use. Mencken 1963 (abridged) comments on a flurry in the newspapers over _different than_ that took place in 1922. Mencken cites with approval this comment from the New York _Sun:_
> 
> 
> 
> The excellent tribe of grammarians, the precisians and all others who strive to be correct and correctors, have as much power to prohibit a single word or phrase as a gray squirrel has to be put out Orion with a flicker of its tail.
Click to expand...


----------



## Zong

I am not a native English speaker but am interested in this topic. I am just curious whether the omission of the phrases in parentheses in the following sentences is grammatically allowed or not.

A is different (in respect) to B.
A is different (with regard) to B.
A is different (with reference) to B.

If the answer is affirmative, then "A is different to B" should be considered as grammatically correct. What do you think?


----------



## Spira

I believe that the elimination of the words in parentheses necessitates a change in preposition.
A is different from B every time!
Although in your first two examples _different to_ sits well when you open the brackets.
Your third example makes no grammatical sense to me.

As my mother drummed into me: "Similar to, but different from" !!


----------



## hmtony

> These three phrases can be very simply explained: different from is the most common and is standard in both American and British usage; different than is standard in American and British usage, especially when a clause follows than, but is more frequent in American usage ; different to is standard in British usage but rare in American usage. Merriam Webster's Dictionary of English Usage


----------



## Spira

_Different to_ *IS* very common within some parts of English society, as is "them girls are nice" or "the ship sunk without trace".


----------



## colcan

For me, _different from_ is the only acceptable construction, although I acknowledge that many Americans do say _different than._


----------



## Arrius

Spira said:


> _Different to_ *IS* very common within some parts of English society, as is "them girls are nice" or "the ship sunk without trace".


 
In British English, I would say the majority of educated speakers use _different to_ these days or less frequently _different than,_ and _diff_er_ent from_ which I always say seems to be on the way out. But such people would not say either of your other two examples unless they were trying to be funny.


----------



## angel8848

Hello there,

"The competition was quite different than any others I had entered."
Could any of you help me with " different than, differerent to / from of the above statement?

I get confused there because I'm not sure whether 'quite different than' is a comparative there in any sense.

I'd very much appreciate it if you could explain to me.


----------



## johndot

Have you read all of the previous posts, *angel8848*? Perhaps not—it’s a long thread! (It’s worth having a look at as many as you can.)
 
The question you ask has been touched upon before, but not resolved, and you will probably get many different answers.
 
As I see it, your sentence doesn’t contain a comparative: “quite different” is simply a statement of fact that “the competitions” were not the same; “quite different” does _not_ say that one was _bigger_ or _better_ or _faster_ or _longer_ than another, and so the use of the comparator “than” would not be right.
 
Many people do use “different than” (even when there is no comparative). Many people, and I am one of them, disagree: I strongly recommend you use “different from”.


----------



## Phil-Olly

Since nobody's mentioned so far ...

Distinct from ...
Divergent from ...
Distant from ...          (Close to ...)
Different from ...        (Similar to ...)

"Different to .." makes my brain hurt, as it would if someone  said, "Distant to .." or "Close from ..."


----------



## owlman5

gaer said:


> link
> 
> The phrases _different from_ and _different than_ are both common in British and American English. The British also use the construction _different to._
> 
> This is new information for me.
> 
> As for the use of "from" vs. "than", it is one of those ongoing disputes that goes round and round and round and round.
> 
> Gaer


My recent search in the BNC does not confirm this notion.  Every example they showed in an independent search for "so very different__" contained *"from"* and not *"than"*, which surprised me.  I've used "than" unashamedly for years with this sort of meaning: I am different than he *is*.  Or That is different than the other thing *is*.  Therefore, I was surprised to find no support for this use in the material available in the BNC.


----------



## Spira

owlman5 said:


> My recent search in the BNC does not confirm this notion. Every example they showed in an independent search for "so very different__" contained *"from"* and not *"than"*, which surprised me. I've used "than" unashamedly for years with this sort of meaning: I am different than he *is*. Or That is different than the other thing *is*. Therefore, I was surprised to find no support for this use in the material available in the BNC.


 
It's normal that you have unashamedly used "different than" for years, just like ever other American I know. "Different than" seems to be the norm west of Limerick. 
In the UK the correct form is "different from", but a large portion of the less-educated population says "different to", making a false parallel with its opposite "similar to".
When I was a child in London it was one of those catchy sing-song pedagogical expressions that my mother used to say: "Similar to but different from", along with "i before e, except after c", and a hundred others.(which explains why I have trouble writing WEIRD !!).


----------



## Victoria32

owlman5 said:


> My recent search in the BNC does not confirm this notion.  Every example they showed in an independent search for "so very different__" contained *"from"* and not *"than"*, which surprised me.  I've used "than" unashamedly for years with this sort of meaning: I am different than he *is*.  Or That is different than the other thing *is*.  Therefore, I was surprised to find no support for this use in the material available in the BNC.


I am interested to see this thread revived! In NZ, different *than* is really taking over, thanks to film and TV, as we become more culturally American, but it still makes me cringe...
Vicky


----------



## owlman5

Victoria32 said:


> I am interested to see this thread revived! In NZ, different *than* is really taking over, thanks to film and TV, as we become more culturally American, but it still makes me cringe...
> Vicky


I can certainly understand your cringing at the thought of New Zealand being overrun by crap generated here in the US.  I also encourage you to maintain the good fight over there.  I see no reason for other people to pick up the ridiculous expressions of teenage Americans.  After all, you've got your own perfectly imaginative and sullen teenagers: let them come up with their own terms for anything that bugs them or makes them laugh.  My own language has been greatly enriched by the odd terms I pick up from native English speakers in other parts of the world.  I regard my exposure to the new material as a beneficial thing, and one I genuinely enjoy in this forum.


----------



## Cagey

"Different from" is still far more popular in American English than "different than".  Using Owlman's useful formulation in a search of COCA*** I got:_so very different from_: 34
_so very different than_: 2
_so very different to_: 0, for this construction.[There was 1 for the unrelated construction: _Cappadocia wasn't *so* *very* *different* *to* farm or graze._]​***CORPUS OF CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN ENGLISH.

Added: These results are consistent with those cited at various times earlier in the thread, and with the statistics of the alt-usage-english.org article, article on different to/ than, also cited earlier in the thread:"Different from" is the construction that no one will object to.
"Different to" is fairly common informally in the U.K., but rare in the U.S.  "Different than" is sometimes used to avoid the cumbersome "different from that which", etc. (e.g., "a very different Pamela than I used to leave all company and pleasure for" -- Samuel Richardson). Some U.S. speakers use "different than" exclusively.​Their statistics differentiate between UK and US and between spoken and written language.  The statistics are quoted in post              #*92*.


----------



## Victoria32

owlman5 said:


> I can certainly understand your cringing at the thought of New Zealand being overrun by crap generated here in the US.  I also encourage you to maintain the good fight over there.  I see no reason for other people to pick up the ridiculous expressions of teenage Americans.  After all, you've got your own perfectly imaginative and sullen teenagers: let them come up with their own terms for anything that bugs them or makes them laugh.  My own language has been greatly enriched by the odd terms I pick up from native English speakers in other parts of the world.  I regard my exposure to the new material as a beneficial thing, and one I genuinely enjoy in this forum.


Yeah, it's sad to hear NZ teenagers talking as if they're character on the OJ (or is it O.C?) 
Even sadder is that they don't even know the NZ terms their older sisters would have used 10 years previously... THanks for the encouragement!
Vicky


----------



## Spira

(Cagey):"Different to" is fairly common informally in the U.K..........

It's really not a case of "informal" in the UK. I know plenty of Brits who transform "shit" into "sugar" or "cops" into "policemen" in front of authority or their grandmother, but the only people I know who say "different to" always say it because they think that's the way it is (the same Brits who say "them things" and "off of").


----------



## Cagey

That was a quotation from an article based on the set of statistics I linked to.  The statistics may not be accurate for any number of reasons; they may be outdated, for one thing, or the body of language from which they are taken may be biased in some way.  I am in no position to evaluate them.  However, you  might take a look at them yourself.  See post *92*, or see them in their original context here:          alt-usage-english.org article.


----------



## owlman5

Cagey said:


> That was a quotation from an article based on the set of statistics I linked to.  The statistics may not be accurate for any number of reason; they may be outdated, for one thing, or the body of language from which they are taken may be biased in some way.  I am in no position to evaluate them.  However, you  might take a look at them yourself.  See post *92*, or see them in their original context here:          alt-usage-english.org article.



This material was interesting, Cagey.  I'm glad you took the time to find it. Thank you.


----------



## coolieinblue

Sorry to interrupt you.

As for me, an ESL learner, each statement sounds like:

*different from*     makes known your observation and induce something that you are going to say next

*different to*        reflects your idea on what something is supposed to be like

*differendt than*   shows your judgment


----------



## Arrius

No, *colliein blue*, whatever they sound like to you, they all mean the same, but their use or acceptability varies regionally.


----------



## nzfauna

I would use all three, probably interchangeably.


----------



## easychen

Nick said:


> It's not an exact replacement. You can't just take out "than" and insert "from".
> 
> It's different *than* I thought it would be.
> It's different *from what* I thought it would be.


 Yes, I totally agree with what you've said.
And here's another example:
-Face-to-face communication is a different beast *from what* you are doing.
-Face-to-face communication is a different beast *than* you are doing.

But this one is not so good:
-Face-to-face communication is a different beast *than what* you are doing.

Am I correct?


----------



## Arrius

In spoken BE I have noticed since joining this thread, that on the BBC one occasionally hears a British speaker use _different than_, but _different from_ (which I personally continue to use) has almost entirely been ousted by _different to_, which, as I said earlier, I first came across several decades ago when I left London to live in Yorkshire.


----------



## Cameljockey

My take (referring to easychen's post):

It is fine to use 'than' here because you are using it as a conjunction between two separate parts of the phrase.

The alternative is: 'face-to-face communication is different from what  you are doing now', as then you are using the word 'different' to  compare/contrast two things in a concise sentence (for interest's sake,  you can note that to use contrast, it would be 'in contrast to' ).

Also, in the UK you can use 'different to' when comparing/contrasting:  'face-to-face communication is different to what you are doing now'.


----------



## Spira

Arrius said:


> In spoken BE I have noticed since joining this thread, that on the BBC one occasionally hears a British speaker use _different than_, but _different from_ (which I personally continue to use) has almost entirely been ousted by _different to_, which, as I said earlier, I first came across several decades ago when I left London to live in Yorkshire.


 
Arrius' point appears to be that _different to_ has ousted _different from_ over time.
I don't think that is true, unless poor grammar has ousted correct grammar over time (which, of course, may be true )
And when I lived in London four decades ago _different to_ was very prevalent, especially in east London ! It went hand in fist with the formula "them things", or rather "them fings".


----------



## mplsray

Spira said:


> Arrius' point appears to be that _different to_ has ousted _different from_ over time.
> I don't think that is true, unless poor grammar has ousted correct grammar over time (which, of course, may be true )
> And when I lived in London four decades ago _different to_ was very prevalent, especially in east London ! It went hand in fist with the formula "them things", or rather "them fings".



Two sources which identify _different to_ as standard in British English:

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage by Merriam-Webster, Inc.:

From the article "different from, than, to":

"_different to_ is standard in British usage but rare in American usage."

_The Columbia Guide to Standard American English_ by Kenneth G. Wilson.

From the article "different from, different than, different to":

"These three have been usage items for many years. All are Standard and have long been so (_different to_ is limited to British English, however)...."

The focus of Wilson's book is on American usage, but I am sufficiently acquainted with his book, and with the differences between British and American English, to trust his statements about British English.


----------



## Spira

_Different to_ is definitely prevalent in the UK. No doubt about that.
What exactly "standard English" means I'm not sure: frequently said? Or considered grammatically correct? Not slang?
Whatever the definition, we were taught (in London in the 60s and 70s) that a frequent mistake made is "different to", and that to avoid making the mistake the little reminder "similar to but different from" should be used.
This was clearly taught both at school and in my home.
So I have to side with the conclusion: _different to_ is commonly used but grammatically wrong (in England)


----------



## mplsray

Spira said:


> _Different to_ is definitely prevalent in the UK. No doubt about that.
> What exactly "standard English" means I'm not sure: frequently said? Or considered grammatically correct? Not slang?
> Whatever the definition, we were taught (in London in the 60s and 70s) that a frequent mistake made is "different to", and that to avoid making the mistake the little reminder "similar to but different from" should be used.
> This was clearly taught both at school and in my home.
> So I have to side with the conclusion: _different to_ is commonly used but grammatically wrong (in England)



There are various definitions, but the one I have in mind (and that used by the two sources I cited) is that which, adopted from linguistics, is used by the editors of most English-language dictionaries today when discussing usage questions, in which _standard_ refers to the speech and writing of educated people and includes both formal and informal speech and writing.

(Note that dictionaries may well give additional definitions of "Standard English" under their entry for that term, but I am referring to the concept the editors themselves use when writing labels or making comments concerning usage.)


----------



## Arrius

*when I lived in London four decades ago different to was very prevalent* Spira

Although even my own dialect as a boy was greatly influenced by Cockney, I was so used to hearing *different from* in London that the *different to* of Yorkshire struck me immediately.  But that was in 1955_,_ according  to your profile, _ two years before you were born!_ I have mentioned in an earlier post the southward migration of _different to_ that occurred later.  _Different than_ is a much later intruder.


----------



## gaer

I remember "different than" being very common in the US, and that experience goes back decades. In addition, I heard Rachel Maddow use it recently, and I am fairly sure I have heard at least two other people use it, people I believe speak well. Most likely they would use "different from" in writing.

On the other hand, "different to" totally shocked me the first time I heard it. Reason? Until the "Age of the Internet" I did not have the opportunity to swap emails with people in the UK, Australia (and so on), so I was simply not aware of it.

I did not know that "different than" is frowned upon until I joined this forum.


----------



## Spira

Arrius said:


> *when I lived in London four decades ago different to was very prevalent* Spira
> 
> Although even my own dialect as a boy was greatly influenced by Cockney, I was so used to hearing *different from* in London that the *different to* of Yorkshire struck me immediately. But that was in 1955_,_ according to your profile, _two years before you were born!_ I have mentioned in an earlier post the southward migration of _different to_ that occurred later. _Different than_ is a much later intruder.


 
You are right. Your experience pre-dates mine.
Bizarrely, I married a west-Yorkshire girl in 1980 and never heard "different to" up there ever!!


----------



## owlman5

After searching for "different from" and "different than" in TMC, I found many more entries for "from" (1,550) than I did for "than" (65).  COCA had 12,429 entries for "from" and 3,453 for "than".  These numbers certainly don't support any big preference for "than" in the U.S.  

Looking at how "than" was being used, I found some sentences that I definitely believe are better with "than".  "From" wouldn't work in these, for instance:

(COCA) I looked a little *different* *than* I thought I would and my voice didn't sound the way I thought...

I told Justice Black in language that was sharp, but no *different* *than* I would use again, that...

I don't feel any  *different* *than* I ever did, although I'm not so strong now. "  

Although I did find some support for "than" being used as a preposition, many times "than" was being used as a conjunction, as it is in the sentences cited.  This certainly reflects my own use.  I never say "I'm different than him", but "I'm different than he is."  I prefer the preposition "from" when I use "different" with a preposition: I'm different from them.


----------



## lsp

gaer said:


> I did not know that "different than" is frowned upon until I joined this forum.


I agree with your post completely, especially this part.


----------



## gaer

owlman5 said:


> After searching for "different from" and "different than" in TMC, I found many more entries for "from" (1,550) than I did for "than" (65). COCA had 12,429 entries for "from" and 3,453 for "than". These numbers certainly don't support any big preference for "than" in the U.S.


Any results are going to be skewed towards educated writers. We won't find out what the average person says this way. Some people don't care, but it is of interest to me. We will find out, in general, what people who are more sophisticated about language write, which is a strong indication of what they have been TOLD to write.

Furthermore, by listening carefully to people who are known to write well, we might discover whether or not they stick to the same rules when speaking, or if they speak slightly differently.


----------



## owlman5

Just looking at raw numbers for the two phrases on Google, I found 19,200,000 for "different than".  "Different from" shows 86,300,000.  I'm not particularly impressed with Google's numbers when I'm trying to solve a grammar problem.  I do think that Google's numbers are less likely to be skewed toward the use of professional writers than are the numbers from COCA, etc.

I thought the important thing from the sentences in COCA was that many writers use "than" when they're using it as a conjunction:  I am different than he is.  In sentences like this one, "from" doesn't work: I am different from he is??? I felt different than I did an hour earlier. 

"Than" as a preposition isn't as frequent in the corpora although many are using that way according to the sentences I found on Google.


----------



## timpeac

I find it amazing this question causes such consternation. After all, does it really matter in any way which preposition someone uses? I don't mean that (completely) facetiously. If there was any chance of a misunderstanding then that would be some grounds for wanting a clear decision. However, here I can't see that there is any risk of confusion with another meaning. There is no intrinsic reason why "different" should be followed by "from". In any case, it's clear from this thread that "to" and "than" can be used by many native speakers with their native speaker friends without anyone thinking there is anything wrong. If you're a foreign speaker then just bear in mind that if you don't use "from" then you risk censure if what you say/write is being marked by a teacher.


----------



## leo9lives

The following is from _Words into type_, Third Edition, © 1974 (page 371):

The adjective _different_ is usually followed by _from_, and some authorities consider any other phrasing improper. But _different to_ and _different than_ are common usage in England and have long literary usage to support them. _Different than_ is being increasingly used in the United States when the object is a clause, probably because the construction required by _from_ is often wordy.

Conditions are now very different from what they were when the Constitution was drawn up and adopted.

Cotton and linen are known as vegetable fibers and have different reactions than the animal fibers known as silk and wool (have).


----------



## gaer

lsp said:


> I agree with your post completely, especially this part.


First of all, note the date of the first post:

26th June 2005, 10:05 AM

As for the rest, getting prescriptivists and descriptivists to agree on grammar is no more easy than getting conservatives and liberals to agree on the role of government. 



timpeac said:


> I find it amazing this question causes such consternation. After all, does it really matter in any way which preposition someone uses? I don't mean that (completely) facetiously. If there was any chance of a misunderstanding then that would be some grounds for wanting a clear decision. However, here I can't see that there is any risk of confusion with another meaning. There is no intrinsic reason why "different" should be followed by "from". In any case, it's clear from this thread that "to" and "than" can be used by many native speakers with their native speaker friends without anyone thinking there is anything wrong. If you're a foreign speaker then just bear in mind that if you don't use "from" then you risk censure if what you say/write is being marked by a teacher.


That is precisely what I would say, Tim. "A is different from B" is safe. No bad grades on grammar tests.


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## nitink12

I feel different from and different than are correct usage. But Different to is incorrect.


----------



## Victoria32

nzfauna said:


> I would use all three, probably interchangeably.


I have noticed that New Zealanders do, especially recently, but it makes me teeth ache! They are not interchangeable - and as you have seen, *they are not all correct!* 
Vicky


----------



## Spira

Quote from Owlman. "I'm different than he is."
Whether you use from, than or to after "different", I would definitely say that this construction quoted barely qualifies as English.

No that is a bit harsh, but it certainly is an awkward construction.


----------



## owlman5

Spira said:


> Quote from Owlman. "I'm different than he is."
> Whether you use from, than or to after "different", I would definitely say that this construction quoted barely qualifies as English.


That's interesting, Spira.  So you don't recognize "than" as a conjunction as well as a preposition?  

My position on "than" is radically different than yours is.   I have seen others who recognize the use as a conjunction.  M-W certainly does: <vastly _different_ in size than it was twenty-five years ago -- N.M.Pusey> Try replacing "than" with "from" in that sentence.  It doesn't work.

Here's a pretty good argument for this use at Dr. Charles Darling's extensive website on English grammar: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/adjectives.htm#taller

It falls under the topic "taller than he" or "taller than him".  Despite your misgivings, I'm comfortable with the usefulness of "than" as a conjunction.  Once again, in sentences like "I feel different than I did last night", "from" would sound ridiculous: I feel different from I did last night???


----------



## Spira

owlman5 said:


> That's interesting, Spira. So you don't recognize "than" as a conjunction as well as a preposition?
> 
> My position on "than" is radically different than yours is.  I have seen others who recognize the use as a conjunction. M-W certainly does: <vastly _different_ in size than it was twenty-five years ago -- N.M.Pusey> Try replacing "than" with "from" in that sentence. It doesn't work.
> 
> Once again, in sentences like "I feel different than I did last night", "from" would sound ridiculous: I feel different from I did last night???


 
I and those around me say: 
vastly different in size from how it was twenty-five years ago or
vastly different in size from twenty-five years ago 
I feel different from how I did last night or
I feel different from last night
I'm different from him

There are two different issues here. In BE the discussion is the grammatical correctness of _from/at,_ while _than_ is really more of a regional (US) development. 
Thereafter I feel the than leads you into all sorts of awkwardness.


----------



## owlman5

I've never been aware of any awkwardness resulting from my using "than" as a conjunction.  To me, it's as simple as this: I use "than" with "different" the same way I would use it with a comparative adjective:  I sing louder than she does.
I feel different than she does.

I certainly don't see any need to say: I sing louder from how she does.
Nor is it necessary to say: I feel different from how I felt last night.

Of course, I'm not saying that there is anything _wrong_ with expressing the idea that way.  On the contrary, it sounds perfectly natural to me.  But so does: That song sounds different than it did last night.


----------



## Arrius

Spira said:


> You are right. Your experience pre-dates mine.
> Bizarrely, I married a west-Yorkshire girl in 1980 and never heard "different to" up there ever!!


 
Ah, _West_ Yorkshire. My information is based on what I am quite sure I heard in Kingston-upon-Hull. I had very little contact with the folk in other parts of the county, and so should perhaps not have generalized.  
The Wikipedia says that the Hull dialect is distinct and akin to that of Lincolnshire.


----------



## Victoria32

owlman5 said:


> I've never been aware of any awkwardness resulting from my using "than" as a conjunction.  To me, it's as simple as this: I use "than" with "different" the same way I would use it with a comparative adjective:  I sing louder than she does.
> I feel different than she does.
> 
> I certainly don't see any need to say: I sing louder from how she does.
> Nor is it necessary to say: I feel different from how I felt last night.
> 
> Of course, I'm not saying that there is anything _wrong_ with expressing the idea that way.  On the contrary, it sounds perfectly natural to me.  But so does: That song sounds different than it did last night.


You need to re-cast the sentence to avoid 'different than', and it's not difficult! 
"I feel different from the way  I felt last night."
Sorry, _than _as a conjunction just doesn't work, any more than 'like' as a conjunction works.
Vicky


----------



## owlman5

Victoria32 said:


> You need to re-cast the sentence to avoid 'different than', and it's not difficult!
> "I feel different from the way  I felt last night."
> Sorry, _than _as a conjunction just doesn't work, any more than 'like' as a conjunction works.
> Vicky


I'm not sorry, Vicky.  I'm content with "than" as a conjunction and see no problem with it used that way:  I sing louder than she does.  As I've found a great deal of support for this use in reputable writing, I suppose I'll keep using it without the approval of some of my fellow forum members.

As much as some people might not want to admit its validity, "than" as a conjunction is supported by The Compact Oxford English Dictionary : [as conjunction] :_they observe *rather than* act 

_I found that definition here: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/than?view=uk

Here's agreement from the American Heritage Dictionary: *CONJUNCTION:*


 Used after a comparative adjective or adverb to introduce the second element or clause of an unequal comparison: _She is a better athlete than I._
 Used to introduce the second element after certain words indicating difference: _He draws quite differently than she does._
I found that definition here: http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/than

And here's one from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary: 

*than* _preposition conjunction  _
• 
 used to join two parts of a comparisonMy son is a lot taller than my daughter.
You always walk faster than I do!
You're earlier than usual.

Which I found here: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/than



_
_


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## mplsray

On a historical note, Merriam-Wester's Dictionary of English Usage says that the first time it was argued that _than_ had to be a conjunction was in 1762 by Robert Lowth, while the first argument that it could be a preposition was by Joseph Priestly in 1769. Priestly was a scientist, and his grammar is considered to be the first descriptive grammar of English. He "suspected that others' preference for the nominative was based not on English, but on a dubious analogy with Latin."

The first use of _than_ as a preposition which is cited by the Oxford English Dictionary is in the Geneva Bible, 1560: "_Prov._ xxvii. 3 A fooles wrath is heauier then them bothe." Note that the OED's entry needs to be updated, as the above comes from the entry "than, _conj._" and the use of the accusative case is described as being "as if _than_ were a preposition." The quote by *owlman5* from a current Oxford dictionary represents what a future OED revision is likely to show.


----------



## Arrius

P.S. A couple of days ago I heard a well-spoken British expert on some -ology or other say on the BBC, "A. differs *to *B.". I forget the context, but am quite sure about the preposition used - the epidemic is evidently spreading!


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## Spira

Differs to is correct
Similar to is correct
Different from is correct


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## Packard

I tried this: I substituted "differs" for "different", and the distinction seems relevant to me.

*The 2011 Volvo differs from the 2010 in many ways...*

*The 2011 Volvo differs than the 2010 in many ways...*

The above given to bolster my position the "different" requires "from", and not "than".


----------



## Spira

Except that differs is not the same word as different.


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## Victoria32

Spira said:


> Differs to is correct
> Similar to is correct
> Different from is correct


Differs to_ has to be_ wrong, sorry! It makes no sense, and just sounds completely wrong. Differs from surely?
Vicky


----------



## Cagey

Victoria32 said:


> Differs to_ has to be_ wrong, sorry! It makes no sense, and just sounds completely wrong. Differs from surely?
> Vicky


_Differs to_ doesn't _have_ to be wrong.  

I am a speaker of American English, so it jangles my ear, but for the differing view of speakers of British see post 121 and following.


----------



## Spira

Victoria32 said:


> Differs to_ has to be_ wrong, sorry! It makes no sense, and just sounds completely wrong. Differs from surely?
> Vicky


 
Got confused, sorry  
I should say DIFFERS FROM, just like DIFFERENT FROM.


----------



## Victoria32

Spira said:


> Got confused, sorry
> I should say DIFFERS FROM, just like DIFFERENT FROM.


Oh, that's cool!  

Vicky


----------



## Packard

Spira said:


> Got confused, sorry
> I should say DIFFERS FROM, just like DIFFERENT FROM.


 
That was my point.  But *differs to* (and for me) *different to* do not work.


----------



## Spira

Packard said:


> That was my point. But *differs to* (and for me) *different to* do not work.


 
I agree. Neither works with *to*. Sorry, my confusion.
To say for the millionth time, I have heard DIFFERENT TO my whole life. It was actually quoted by my schoolteachers as one of the most common grammatical mistakes made in England.
It was said by the same social group that would say "I ain't got no money" (or satisfaction!)


----------



## Zordkhan

I happy to accept either to or from in simple comparisons: 

Television is different from film in that (...). 

I would have said never to use "different than" but I have just caught myself writing it! 

The Hungarian text ... prompts one to a different declamation than the Slovak text. 

Perhaps I could improve it thus: 

The Hungarian text ... prompts one to a different declamation than does the Slovak text.

This text is really difficult already and my head is spinning from it. Is what I have written acceptable? (at... Oxford University, say?)


----------



## Keith Bradford

Zordkhan, you've not committed any mistake there.  You'd have said "The Hungarian text ... is different from the Slovak text", wouldn't you?  But the sentence with the verbal phrase "prompts one to..." is an entirely different construction, so don't feel bad about using "than" in that case.

But with straight nouns the matter is simple:
Close *to* home, far *from* home.
Similar *to* chalk, different *from* cheese.

Why does anybody on earth think it should be otherwise?  If they're going to be arbitrary, they might as well throw in _at_ or _over_.  They can get it wrong if they like, so long as they don't try to persuade me of it.


----------



## Arrius

The only English I hear as an expatriate is on the radio (which I still call _the wireless _to date me), and I cannot remember the last time I heard _different from_ instead of _different to_ whatever the educational level, social class, or even age of the speaker. But you won't hear it from me. And the same goes for _fed up of_ instead of the traditional_ fed up with_ etc_._ Preposition usage changes with time: centuries have passed since we drank a health _unto_ Her Majesty or believed _on_ the Lord thy God. There is little we can do about it except to preserve our own way of speaking or writing.


----------



## Geo.

Arrius said:


> The only English I hear as an expatriate is on the radio (which I still call _the wireless _to date me), and I cannot remember the last time I heard _different from_ instead of _different to_ whatever the educational level, social class, or even age of the speaker. But you won't hear it from me. And the same goes for _fed up of_ instead of the traditional_ fed up with_ etc_._ Preposition usage changes with time: centuries have passed since we drank a health _unto_ Her Majesty or believed _on_ the Lord Thy God. There is little we can do about it except to preserve our own way of speaking or writing.


 
_*‘which I still call the wireless’ ... thank you for that! I do as well,*_ _and I don’t find it dated, I find it natural, at least at home or — without thinking — when amongst fellow expatriates. _(To hear some of the criticism I get from relatives back home — to say nothing of their children _— one would think I had said ‘horseless-carriage’ for ‘motorcar’ or called a ‘push-bike’ a ‘penny-farthing’ ..._ and these are people who speak Estuary, and their children Chav, despite neither having an actual background in it!) 

*[...]
*
P.S. In North American English, the preposition remains fixed as _‘different from’_ ... ( _‘different to’_ sounds like a UK broadcast over here. Mind you, I’m not advocating the latter, simply making a comment on how it has become rather common place).​


----------



## Jayboo

Strongly agree. Always "different from".


----------



## amby

I have always thought that different should be follwed by from, but when googled it, I found a lot of expressions, saying different than ... Whicn one is correct?

In that respect, my opinion is different from yours. or
In that respect, my opinion is different than yours.


----------



## cyberpedant

"From" is the correct preposition here. But I have noticed a trend toward using "different to" at least in British English.


----------



## ewie

The short answer is: Use _different__ *from*_.  A lot of people hate _different *than*_, and a lot of people find _different *to*_ rather weird.


----------



## sunyaer

<<Moderator note: I have appended sunyaer's link and question to the existing one to consolidate the discussions>>

I found very insightful comments on distinctions among _different from_, _different to_ and _different than_  by Pherfe at http://grammarist.com/usage/different/

Pherfe uses two sentences to explain the differences between _different from _and _different to:
_
"That is different from this" is used when the idea "that over there compared to this here" is intended, while "this is different to that" for the idea "this here compared to that over there".

It seems to me that "from" and "to" actually connotes the direction of comparison, is this the correct way to understand the logic behind the use of "from" and "to" here?

By the way, should "from" or "to" be used in "his wife is different from / to my wife"? (I feel that "to" is preferable here.)


----------



## PaulQ

You perhaps will not be able to see it, but Google Ngram electronically scans “millions of books” printed between 1800 and 2000 for examples of words and phrases. It then presents the results as a percentage of all the words.

In BE
*Different from* made up 91% of the results
*Different to* made up 6% of the results
*Different  than* made up 3% of the results

In AE, the results for *different to and different than *were reversed.

The conclusion is, "Say 'different *from*'."


----------



## Loretta S.

Different FROM is right. You can use the verbal form and see that "to differ from" is OK but "to differ than" makes no sense!


----------



## ain'ttranslationfun?

For me, 'different from' is good, 'different than' isn't, and 'different to' is GB. So, and according to its predominance on what PaulQ found on Google Ngram, it seems you're safest going with 'different from'.


----------



## Rain_UK

Hope someone will still read this thread though it is quite old.
_
They are different from one another_ is correct.
Could I say _They are *different to*_ one another?

Another example
_ Wine and beer taste *different from* each other_
I know it is grammatically correct.

_ Wine and beer taste *different to *each other._
If you say that in the UK this form is accepted, then why does everyone tell me it is wrong?

I looked them up on internet and read a lot of answers, each different to one another so I cannot ever find a acceptable answer.
Could you please help me out?

Cheers.


----------



## Loretta S.

ewie said:


> The short answer is: Use _different *from*_.  A lot of people hate _different *than*_, and a lot of people find _different *to*_ rather weird.



Quite agree, couldn't have put it better myself!


----------



## Keith Bradford

Ditto from me.

If you want logic, here you are: close *to*, far *from*; near *to*, away *from*; joined *to*, separated *from*... and therefore similar *to*, different *from*.


----------



## Rain_UK

Yes, I think that using *different from* is the most logical, neutral and acceptable thing, both in American English and British English.

But, what about
_ Wine and beer taste *different to *each other._

Might it be considered both correct and wrong, depending on the speaker's country of provenance and point of view?

Besides, what about
I looked them up on internet and read a lot of answers, *each different to one another*.
Is such a construction correct?

Which one is correct?
- ....*each different to one another*
- ....*each different from one another*
- ....*each different than one another*

I would mostly like to know whether the first version is correct or not.

Thank you.


----------



## Andygc

Rain_UK said:


> Might it be considered both correct and wrong,


As far as I'm concerned it's wrong and it sounds terrible. I think the advice repeated several times in the thread remains valid - use 'from'.


----------



## Keith Bradford

Andygc said:


> As far as I'm concerned it's wrong and it sounds terrible. I think the advice repeated several times in the thread remains valid - *use 'from'. *


Hear, hear!  What part of that is hard to understand?


----------



## Packard

I use *different from* and _*similar to*_.  I am pretty confident in stating that this is almost universal where I live.

The reverse is almost never heard (_different to_ and _similar from_) and I would call them incorrect (or at the very least dissonant sounding).  To my ears using these options would probably brand someone as speaking English as a second language.


----------



## Rain_UK

All right.
Thank you all for your help.


----------



## EdisonBhola

rsweet said:


> If you are using a noun or a word/phrase/clause that functions as a noun, I was taught to use "different from."
> "Italy is different from what I expected." "Italy is different from Germany."
> 
> If "different" is followed by a phrase or clause, I was taught to use "than."
> "Italy is different than I expected it to be.
> 
> This "different to" thing has thrown me for a loop though. I'd never heard of it before.


So it's correct to say "this flower has a different colour *from* that flower"?


----------



## Andygc

EdisonBhola said:


> So it's correct to say "this flower has a different colour *from* that flower"?


How many times do we need to repeat ourselves? "Different FROM".


----------



## owlman5

ewie said:


> The short answer is: Use _different *from*_. A lot of people hate _different *than*_, and a lot of people find _different *to*_ rather weird.


This might be the short answer in England, Ewie, but a lot of people have no problem with "different than" in the U.S.  I'm one of them.

What surprises me in this thread is the impression I get that some of you Englishmen are so _annoyed_ by "different than".  That makes no more sense than my getting annoyed because you use "sweets" instead of "candy".  Surely English -- a language spoken by hundreds of millions in different parts of the world -- is big enough to allow more than one preposition or conjunction after "different".


----------



## Packard

I like the construction "differs from", which I think resolves the issue.

The meaning is the same for the following two sentences.

_This flower has a different colour *from* that flower._

_This flower differs from that flower in color.

or

This flower differs from that one in color._


----------



## ewie

owlman5 said:


> This might be the short answer in England, Ewie, but a lot of people have no problem with "different than" in the U.S.  I'm one of them.


It's the short answer everywhere, Mr O (especially where non-native learners are gathered)

_Different than_ is considered incorrect and unacceptable by a lot of people in a lot of places.
So is _different to_.  (I'm a Britishperson who has no particular problem with _different to_.)
_Different from_ is correct and acceptable everywhere


----------



## owlman5

Thanks for the answer, Ewie.  There's apparently no resolving this because our disagreement will merely degenerate into "authority thumping"*, which never resolves anything in here.  I am pleased to note that the WR dictionary offers a fair assessment of the different opinions in its usage commentary for "different".

*Akin to and just as tedious as Bible thumping.


----------



## ain'ttranslationfun?

owlman5 said:


> This might be the short answer in England, Ewie, but a lot of people have no problem with "different than" in the U.S.  I'm one of them.
> 
> What surprises me in this thread is the impression I get that some of you Englishmen are so _annoyed_ by "different than".  That makes no more sense than my getting annoyed because you use "sweets" instead of "candy".  Surely English -- a language spoken by hundreds of millions in different parts of the world -- is big enough to allow more than one preposition after "different".



Hi, o-5, 

"candy/sweets" is vocabulary; "different from/than/to" is grammar, or usage.


----------



## owlman5

You might not believe it, ATF, but I was aware of that before you pointed out the distinction.  Once again, WR's dictionary offers a reasonable assessment of the disagreement in a usage comment under its definition for "different".  I found it far more helpful than several of the grouchy remarks I've seen in this thread.


----------



## ain'ttranslationfun?

Sorry, owlman5, of course you do! I didn't mean to step on your talons. I guess (some) Yanks and Brits may just have to agree to...differ? Yes, actually I did check out the WR entry; as my #163 showed, I don't totally agree with it.


----------



## JulianStuart

owlman5 said:


> This might be the short answer in England, Ewie, but a lot of people have no problem with "different than" in the U.S.  I'm one of them.


Interestingly, the Ngrams show that this is a recent phenomenon in AE - _than_ has risen from 2% in 1960 to 10% in 2000


----------



## ewie

It's on the increase here too, JS, from 0.5% to 3% over the same period

(I copied off JS' Ngram, by the way ... I'm not even sure what these percentages represent ... maybe I'll figure out Ngrams for myself some day possibly)


----------



## JulianStuart

ewie said:


> It's on the increase here too, JS, from 0.5% to 3% over the same period
> 
> (I copied off JS' Ngram, by the way ... I'm not even sure what these percentages represent ... maybe I'll figure out Ngrams for myself some day possibly)


Don't panic ewie  It is only revealing the fact that an increasing number of books (e.g., those that use "color" instead of "colour") are wrongly assigned to the BE category for these searches - that coud well be where your observed increase is coming from. (Their rate of increase seems similar.)   Google has scanned millions of books etc and analysed them in a variety of ways.  We typically use the simple ones - the frequency of occurrence of a word or phrase.  These percentages represent the frequency of "different than" as a percentage of the total frequency of "different than + different from" (in algebra terms, if that helps  %Than = 100x  freq Than/(freq Than + freq From)


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## ewie

Erm ... we might be talking at cross-purposes here, JS.  Rather than doubting the reliability of Ngrams, I meant to say that _different than _is, as I expected, increasing in frequency in BrE.  I've heard it all my life here; I wouldn't call it 'rare', though one hears it less often than _different from_ and _different to_.  But for a few years I've had a sneaking suspicion that, like _If I would have done it_, it's creeping up the 'social ladder' ... so I'm not surprised that it's increased in frequency in written BrE

The algebra was extremely useful: I've lined the bottom of my budgie's cage with it (Not _reeeely_: I don't have a budgie.)


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## JulianStuart

(Do you feel the same about the spelling of colour changing?  We may well have both things going on - keeps the forum in business)


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## velisarius

Edison asked about: "This flower has a different colour *from* that flower"? 

I don't hear English speakers saying that "X has a colour..."

_This flower *is* a different colour from that one/flower._


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

velisarius said:


> Edison asked about: "This flower has a different colour *from* that flower"?
> 
> I don't hear English speakers saying that "X has a colour..."
> 
> _This flower *is* a different colour from that one/flower._



, but (sad to say) "different than" does seem to be creeping towards acceptability, at least in AE. I'm not surprised that an increasing number of instances of its use have been sighted.


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## brian&me

<Moderator note. Brian&me's thread has been added to an older thread. Nat>

Hi, everyone.

The following sentence is from an English textbook for junior high school students in China, co-edited by DC Canada Education Publishing and Heibei Education Press.

_How will your life be different than it is today?_

I think it’s North American English. I wonder if ‘than’ should be ‘from’ in British English.

Thanks in advance.


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## Edinburgher

It most certainly should.  "Different" is not a proper comparative.


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## sound shift

Neither works for me. I need more words, e.g. "... from *how *it is today?"


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## brian&me

Thanks, friends.


sound shift said:


> Neither works for me. I need more words, e.g. "... from *how *it is today?"


Hi, sound shift.
Do you mean the sentence in OP is not correct?


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## sound shift

What's considered correct varies from place to place. If I were you, I would wait for some more opinions, Brian.


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## Edinburgher

sound shift said:


> I need more words, e.g. "... from *how *it is today?"


Agreed.  I so concentrated on the than/from part that I never even noticed the missing "how".  At a pinch, though it's not a very good option, you could omit "it is" instead of adding "how".


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## brian&me

Thanks, sound shift and Edinburgher.
I'd like some native speakers in North America, especially in Canada to tell me if the use of 'different than' in the OP is correct.


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## atokad

See the usage note for the word _different_ in the American Heritage Dictionary:
The American Heritage Dictionary entry: different

The last sentence of the usage note is relevant to the OP's sentence:

"There should be no complaint, however, when the object of comparison is expressed by a full clause: _The campus is different than it was twenty years ago."_

I was somewhat surprised; I thought there might be at least some controversy about its correctness.  But the AHD says it's OK, and doesn't even mention any dissenting voices on the usage panel. In any case, this usage is ubiquitous in AE. (But you should read the full usage note. In other cases, a majority of the usage panel rejects _different than_.)
_
_


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## natkretep

Moderator note. The thread has been merged with some older threads. Please scroll up for comment. _Different from_ is standard; _different than_ occurs in North America, and _different to_ occurs in the UK and many consider them non-standard.


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## ewie

brian&me said:


> _How will your life be different than it is today?_


This feels as alien to me as Chinese.  I wouldn't just call it 'wrong': I'd call it 'hideously heinously wrong'

_(With apologies to Owlman, again)_


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