Furthest or Farthest

Question

Which is it?He was in the elevator furthest/farthest you.Thanks

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

'Farthest' is still preferred for physical distance, but 'furthest' is making inroads on this limitation.

JohnParis · Answer

Your sentence is unclear.

Was he "in" the same elevator as you or was "he" in an elevator that was some distance from you?

In the mean time, I found this plausible explanation.

"Farther" means physical distance: Mary lives farther away from us than James.

"Further" means mental distance: Nothing could be further from the truth.

The same is true for the other forms: Mary's house is the farthest away from home I've ever been; and, That is the furthest thing from the truth.

I wonder what other members think of this?

John

Cool Breeze · Answer

JohnParisI wonder what other members think of this?

I learned in school that both farther and further can be used to refer to physical distance whereas only further is possible in other contexts. That's what I taught to my students for about 35 years as well. Random House Unabridged Dictionary agrees with me.

"—Usage. Although some usage guides insist that only FARTHER should be used for physical distance (We walked farther than we planned), FARTHER and FURTHER have been used interchangeably throughout much of their histories. However, only FURTHER is used in the adverbial sense “moreover” (Further, you hurt my feelings) and in the adjectival senses “more extended” (no further comment) and “additional” (Further bulletins came in)."

CB

Furthest or Farthest

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