"far" and "away"?

Question

Hi,I know this topic has been discussed earlier, but I have not found satisfactory answer to my specfic questions.1)How far is the wax museum?(reply) It is five miles away.I think "away" here means "far". Why can't you use "far"?2)A cat had strayed far from home.If I want to use "away" instead of "far", should I say this way"A cat had strayed three miles away from home"?My parents live far from me.My parents live away from me. Is the second wrong?3)What are the differences between "far" and "far away"?The wax museum is far. The wax museum is far away.The wax museum is far from my house.  The wax museum is far away from my house.(Two chairs are in the house.)This chair is near. That chair is far. That chair is far away.4)The wax museum is far from my house.Can I say it in another way, "My house is far to the wax museum"?Generally, we say "the wax museum is far from my house" or "the wax museum is near to my house".Why does "far" go with "from", and "near" go with "to"?  Just a habit?5)Are the following sentences correct?How far can you hear? I can hear 100 yards away. Your hearing is not bad.I can see a house on fire far away.I can see a house on fire from far away.I can see a far house on fire.On top of the mountain, I can see things far away.On top of the mountain, I can see things from far away.On top of the mountain, I can see far things.On top of the mountain, I can see things far.I can recognize John from far away.I can recognize John far away.I can recognize John far.I can recognize far John.I heard the sound of a far wolf.I heard the sound of a wolf far.I heard the sound of a wolf far away.I heard  the sound of a wolf from far away.He can kick the soccer ball far.He can kick the soccer ball far away.He can kick the soccer ball from far away.If they are correct, are there differences?Thanks a lot!

Dokterjokkebrok · Accepted Answer

stephenlearner1)How far is the wax museum?(reply) It is five miles away.I think "away" here means "far". Why can't you use "far"?

It's simply a matter of syntactics. Far is used in negations and questions to talk about general distance in space or time. Away only works when talking about a specific distance.

- DJB -

Avangi · Answer

stephenlearner:

1)
How far is the wax museum?
(reply) It is five miles away.
I think "away" here means "far". Why can't you use "far"? Because "away" does not mean "far." If it did, "far away" would be redundant.

2)
A cat had strayed far from home.
If I want to use "away" instead of "far", should I say this way
"A cat had strayed three miles away from home"? Yes.

My parents live far from me.
My parents live away from me. Is the second wrong? No. It means you live apart. The distance is irrelevant.

3)
What are the differences between "far" and "far away"?
The wax museum is far. The wax museum is far away.
The wax museum is far from my house. The wax museum is far away from my house.
(Two chairs are in the house.)
This chair is near. That chair is far. That chair is far away. In these examples, there are no differences in meaning.

4)
The wax museum is far from my house.
Can I say it in another way, "My house is far to the wax museum"? No. The distance from my house to the museum is far.
Generally, we say "the wax museum is far from my house" or "the wax museum is near to my house".
Why does "far" go with "from", and "near" go with "to"? Just a habit? It's idiomatic. Yes, collocations involving prepositions are often matters of "collective" habit.

5)
Are the following sentences correct?

How far can you hear? I can hear 100 yards away. Your hearing is not bad. These are fine grammatically, but they ignore the fact that loudness is as much a factor as distance. "I can hear a pin drop a mile away."

I can see a house on fire far away. Yes.
I can see a house on fire from far away. Yes.
I can see a far house on fire. No. I can see a distant house on fire. I can see the far house on fire (as apposed to the near house).

On top of the mountain, I can see things far away. Yes.
On top of the mountain, I can see things from far away. No.
On top of the mountain, I can see far things. Okay, but "distant things" would be better.
On top of the mountain, I can see things far. No.

I can recognize John from far away. Yes.
I can recognize John far away. Yes.
I can recognize John far. Maybe. A child might say it.
I can recognize far John. No.

I heard the sound of a far wolf. Yes. ("Distant" is better.)
I heard the sound of a wolf far. No.
I heard the sound of a wolf far away. Yes.
I heard the sound of a wolf from far away. Yes.

He can kick the soccer ball far. Yes.
He can kick the soccer ball far away. Yes.
He can kick the soccer ball from far away. It's not incorrect, but context would be needed in order for it to make sense.

Eg., He can kick a goal from far away. (assume "far away from the goal.")

If they are correct, are there differences? Yes.

Stephenlearner · Answer

AvangiHow far can you hear? I can hear 100 yards away. Your hearing is not bad. These are fine grammatically, but they ignore the fact that loudness is as much a factor as distance. "I can hear a pin drop a mile away."

Thank you, Avangi. I admit it is an awkward sentence. I just considered the grammaticality, and forgot the reality.

I can see a house on fire far away. Yes.
I can see a house on fire from far away. Yes.
What are their differences in meaning?
I kind of feel the first sentence means "the house on fire is far from me, but I can see it", and second means "I am far from that house on fire, but I can see it". Am I right?

I can see a far house on fire. No.
When do you use the indefinite article "a" + "far"?
Why did you pass "I heard the sound of a far wolf" and fail this one?

On top of the mountain, I can see things from far away. No.
Why is "from far away" not possible?
What is the difference between "from far away" and "far away"?

On top of the mountain, I can see things far. No.
Both "The wax museum is far" and "The wax museum is far away" are grammatical and talking about the same thing.
But in this sentence "On top of...", we should use "far away" rather than "far".
So differences must exist between them.
Can you explain their differences?

I have lots of "what" and "why" in my post. I hope that won't bother you.
Thank you for your help.
I thank the other answerer.

Stephenlearner · Answer

Hi, Avangi

Can you help me with the additional questions?

Thanks very much!

Avangi · Answer

Sorry -- slipped through the cracks!

I'm pooped right now. I'll try to remember. - A.

Stephenlearner · Answer

No problem. Thank you.

When you think about these questions, please include these pairs:
How far can you see? How far away can you see?
How far can you see the letters on the picture? How far away can you see the letters on the picture?
I can see far; I can see far away.

Avangi · Answer

How far can you see? OK

How far away can you see? OK

How far can you see the letters on the picture? No. "From how far can you see etc."

How far away can you see the letters on the picture? No. "From how far away can you see etc."
The problem with these two is that you're looking at a specific picture at a specific (fixed) location.
So it's your location which would have to be the variable.
How far away can you see the Empire State building? (reply) I dunno. Move it back a ways and I'll tell you if I can still see it!

I can see far; OK

I can see far away. OK

Stephenlearner · Answer

Thank you, Avangi.

Now I understand the difference between "from far away” and "far away".
The main question left is "I can see things far" and "I can see things far away".
The former is wrong, and the latter is correct.
I still have no idea why.

Thank you.

Anonymous · Answer

Though my english is a bit poor - these sentences sound to me like this:

I can see a house on fire far away. - "I see (have just seen) a distant house which is on fire." Assuming distant view description.
I can see a house on fire from far away. - "I can see any house which is on fire from a great distance"

On top of the mountain, I can see things from far away. I think it should be correct if rewrite to: "On the top of a mountain, I can see the things that are far away" . Because of "from...to" relation. These things have not been brought from far away neither are coming from far away so using "from" in this sentence is incorrect.

On top of the mountain, I can see things far. Here you can't see far things because they might be too far for being seen from any mountain top. Assuming you have limited viewing area, you should use "away" because "far" has no relevance with the distance. ("far" is far , no matter how far.)
The same is for "I can see a far house on fire." I know where exactly is that house because I'm watching it.
"I heard the sound of a far wolf" - I don't know where is the wolf so I only know that it's somewhere far from me.

"far" and "away"?

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