farther, further, furthermore

The guidelines below explain how to use further and farther.

Use further

• as an adjective meaning "more" or "additional"
  • Do you have any further questions?
• as a verb meaning "to continue, encourage, foster or promote"
  • The loans program allows Canadians to further (continue) their education.
  • We must further (encourage, foster, promote) co-operation between our two countries.
• as an introductory adverb meaning "furthermore" or "in addition"
  • Further, I wish to congratulate our volunteers for their outstanding service to our community.
• as an adverb when referring to progress or figurative distance (not measurable in steps, inches, kilometres, etc.)
  • Jack took the IT courses he needed to help him go further in his career.

Use farther

• as an adjective meaning "more distant"
  • They sailed to the farther shore before heading back.
• as the comparative form of "far" when referring to distance
  • Port Elgin is farther east than we were told.
• as an adverb when referring to physical distance (measurable in steps, inches, kilometres, etc.)
  • How much farther can we travel on half a tank of gas?

NOTE: Most sources list farther and further as synonyms. However, they suggest using further in an abstract (or figurative) sense and farther in a physical sense. When choosing between further and farther, you need to consider whether the distance is physical or figurative. For example:

• I’m exhausted, I can’t go any farther.
  [means I can’t walk another step]
• I’m exhausted, I can’t go any further.
  [means I can’t do anything more]

Use furthermore

• as an introductory adverb meaning "in addition"
  • Furthermore, I wish to congratulate the volunteers who make the Canada Games possible.

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TERMIUM Plus^®, la banque de données terminologiques et linguistiques du gouvernement du Canada
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