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Different From vs. Different Than

The expressions different from and different than have been used almost interchangeably for at least 300 years.

Different from is preferred to introduce a phrase; however, different than may also be used.

Example: New Orleans natives’ speech is different from New York natives’ speech.
Example: New Orleans natives’ speech is different than New York natives’ speech.

Different than is preferred to introduce a clause; however, different from may be used if more words are added.

Example: The boulevard led to a different street than the map showed.
Example: The boulevard led to a different street from the one the map showed.

Differently is used as an adverb. Use differently than with a clause following. You may use differently from if you add extra wording.

Example: He walked differently than he had hoped after getting the leg cast off.
Example: He walked differently from what he had hoped after getting the leg cast off.

Quiz

Choose the preferred or correct word in each sentence.

1. This dress is different from/than the one in the catalog.
2. How is this salad dressing different from/than last night’s dressing?
3. His moustache made him look different from/than his brothers.
4. Chopsticks are very different to hold from/than a fork and knife are.
5. He treated me differently from/than I would have expected.
6. He treated me differently from/than what I would have expected.

Answers

1. different from (preferred because it introduces a phrase)
2. different from (preferred because it introduces a phrase)
3. different from (preferred because it introduces a phrase)
4. different than (preferred because it introduces a clause)
5. differently than
6. differently from

Posted on Friday, July 6th, 2007 at 2:46 pm

21 Comments

21 Responses to “Different From vs. Different Than”

  1. Geoffrey Lukens says:
    December 16, 2008 at 10:43 am

    Hi!

    I’m not trying to be difficult, but…I hereby take exception to the notion floated here, that the expressions DIFFERENT FROM and DIFFERENT THAN have, seemingly, been on an equal grammatical footing for nearly three hundred years!??!

    Wow, where have I been? [Rhetorical question]

    This controversy between THAN and FROM (as prepositions) when used with the verb TO DIFFER, or the adjective DIFFERENT, seems to be one which has, is, and perhaps will, ultimately, result in accomodation of bad, or lazy grammar. It’s yet another instance of the Decline of Our Language, the Dumbing-down of primary schooling.

    I hear (presumably), otherwise well-educated, well-spoken people, in public, making this mistake. It’s a pretty gross mistake. On one hand, when the uneducated speak in this way, it’s one thing. It’s forgivable, even though one would like to explain, and disabuse them of their error. On the other hand, public figures, whether it’s our President, or a respected news-anchor, should be responsible enough to check themselves and what they utter, before they go public. Or, have we come to expect and accept such colloquial expressions from our role models?

    DIFFER takes the preposition FROM (exclusively), for the simple and logical reason that, as the verb TO DIFFER implies, it sets apart by EXCLUSION rather than BY DEGREE of COMPARISON. As in – This is different from that. When something differs, it implies another, FROM WHICH it is distinguished.

    The fundamental question: How does something, be it a state of being, a quality, a quantity, an action,…DIFFER FROM another thing? Answer, COMPARITIVELY, by contrast. The contrast is either by degree, or by total exclusion; if one thing is excluded (outside the set which includes another) FROM, it is DIFFERENT. The preposition THAN is used with GREATER or LESS; the preposition FROM is used with DIFFERENT.

    That’s how I see it.
    The lazy speaker does not want to expend the effort to construct the requisite clause to follow, FROM [THAT WHICH, the other]… etc.

    If we tried this little litmus test in most other languages, we’d probably get the same results. It’s beyond the scope of my immediate reply to attempt that. I think I would/could prove my premise, but I’ll let it go for now.

    Different THAN is colloquial, which is, strictly speaking, not correct. It may be “Acceptable, accomodated,” but not right; it is lazy usage of grammar.

    Your thoughts?
    Thank you,
    Geoff

    Reply
  2. Shelley says:
    June 19, 2010 at 5:59 am

    I agree with and thank Geoff for that very clear description of the distinction. The use of “from” for different and “than” for comparative is a clear and easy way to understand the DIFFERENCE.

    Thanks for your post!

    Reply
  3. James says:
    June 25, 2010 at 6:39 pm

    I’m afraid I think Geoff is very badly wrong about this. As you say, “different than” has been in use all over the English world for hundreds of years. Maybe (I just don’t know the history) it was once non-standard, but surely 300 years is enough to make it acceptable now! As the OED notes,

    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

    More important: the word “than” is definitely not a preposition. It is a conjunction. To call it a preposition is just incorrect (not a matter of taste, style, etc.)!

    Reply
  4. Joe says:
    October 10, 2010 at 7:12 am

    From the OED:
    than – sometimes after adjectives or adverbs of similar meaning to ‘other’, as ‘different’ ‘diverse’ ‘opposite’, and after Latin comparatives, as ‘inferior’ ‘junior: usually with clause following.
    Now mostly avoided.

    Reply
  5. Torpedo Jack says:
    November 4, 2010 at 10:49 pm

    Mr. Lukens would make a stronger argument if he spelled accommodate correctly (2x), was aware that president is just a job description requiring no capitalization, and that news anchor is best without the conjured hyphen. Also, shoring up sloppy punctuation would be a plus (“I hear, otherwise well-educated…”).

    Reply
  6. Connie says:
    November 16, 2010 at 2:52 pm

    I agree with Geoff and quite love his well-written statement about the use of “from” vs “than” after “different”. On the other hand, James may have a point that “than” is a conjunction–perhaps as in “Going to the ball game is different THAN going to the opera.” Could James quote us the usage exactly by his string of quotable personages? I’d love to learn more about how this has been used for some 300 years because I too am under the impression that this claim is not precise.

    Reply
  7. Kim says:
    January 11, 2011 at 1:21 pm

    In another web site discussing this very issue, someone postulated that “than” versus “from”, when used in the context of comparison (which is *always* the context for the word different) would parallel their use in math:

    > greater than
    < less that
    = equal to
    not equal to, or different from

    This is how we say things when we want to be precise. Using than in the last line instead of from just confuses the to and form parallelism. It not only grates on the ear, it seems lazy … a lack of precision.

    My point being that I feel this way when I looks at the examples that suggest the use of “than” … they feel contrived, because using “differently” in those contexts feels lazy and uninformative.

    For example: That is preferred for #4, which is written awkwardly as:

    4. Chopsticks are very different to hold from/than a fork and knife are.

    I would prefer a more elegant statement using different to read this way:

    Chopsticks are held differently from the knife and fork.

    But than would work if we get into a real comparison, where degree is expressed:

    Chopsticks are *harder* to hold than the knife and fork.

    And that perfectly parallels how the words work in math.

    “Than” is also preferred for #5:

    5. He treated me differently from/than I would have expected.

    Again, my choices are:

    I would have expected him to treat me differently.

    OR

    He treated me much better (much worse) than I would have expected.

    Thinking in terms of general comparison versus degree pretty much straightens it all out for me.

    Reply
  8. stacy says:
    March 2, 2011 at 12:37 am

    Different from vs. different than ,when used incorrectly hurts my ears. But not so much as the seemingly now acceptable “bring vs. take”. My biggest grammar pet peeve of all time. Not many of us left who know how to use the english language correctly. My Mother, (God rest her soul) I’m sure, turns over in her grave each time our Commander in Chief says “figger” rather than figure and “ta” rather than to, as in, “we must figger out a way ta reduce the budget deficet”. Drives me CRAZY, I tell you, just crazy!

    Reply
  9. Ricky says:
    March 8, 2011 at 2:52 pm

    @Torpedo

    Actually, the President is not just a job description. If one were talking about a president of an organization or club, it would not be capitalized. However, the President of the United States of America, according to AP Style, is capitalized when referenced as “the President.” In the context of American media, when one uses “President” as a proper noun, it is understood clearly it is referring to Barack Obama. But “president” could be any number of people.

    AP Style, Chicago Manual of Style and The Elements of Style all favor “different from” over “different than.” So in context of anywhere you might want to get published professionally in the U.S., it would be a better idea to use “different from” if you are not sure.

    Reply
  10. Alana says:
    July 25, 2011 at 1:27 pm

    Thanks for the post and comments — I have better understanding now of the reasoning behind the usage of “different from/than.” I want to point out one thing (rather off-topic) from the original post, though.

    Your first example is written as, “New Orleans natives’ speech is different from that of New York natives’ speech.”

    I believe the words “that of” are used incorrectly here. “That of” should be used INSTEAD of the repetition of “speech” (and the possessive apostrophe preceding the noun). It could be worded as:

    “New Orleans natives’ speech is different from New York natives’ speech.”
    “New Orleans natives’ speech is different from that of New York natives.”

    Reply
  11. Ed Crane says:
    August 2, 2011 at 3:43 pm

    I think this may be less complicated than we think. It depends on what you consider to be a well-written sentence and what exactly it is you’re trying to say.

    “Than” in the following sentence works, as a verb is implied and omitted [in brackets].

    “People in New Orleans speak differently than people in New York [speak].”
    – If you don’t omit the verb and use “from”, it would be incorrect and come across as such to the reader or listener.
    – If you omit the verb, using “from” in this sentence may pass various litmus tests but technically woud be incorrect.

    “From” works in the sense that something “differs from” something else e.g. “I differ from my colleagues on this point.”

    “A New Orleans accent (differs from / is different from) a New York accent”

    – “Differs than” is (and sounds) incorrect.
    – “…is different than” is also incorrect, but would probably be acceptable to most readers / listeners.

    I think the first sentence, using “than”, is more concise, and clearer.

    Reply
    • Jane says:
      August 2, 2011 at 4:00 pm

      As mentioned at the beginning of the lesson, the expressions different from and different than have been used almost interchangeably for at least 300 years. That is why I am approaching this lesson from the angle of what is preferred rather than a strict correct vs incorrect argument.

      Reply
  12. Ed Crane says:
    August 2, 2011 at 4:10 pm

    I realize this throws a wrench into the answers to the quiz…but based on my theory, I would answer as follows (with my reasoning in brackets)

    1. This dress is different from the one in the catalog [one "differs from" the other]
    2. How is this salad dressing different than last night’s dressing [was]? [omitted verb].
    3. His moustache made him look different than his brothers [look]. [omitted verb].
    4. Chopsticks are very different to hold than a fork and knife are. [verb is not omitted!]
    5. He treated me differently than I would have expected [to be treated][omitted verb].
    6. He treated me differently than what I would have expected [same reason as preceding. I think this should read "he treated me differently than how I expected.]

    Reply
  13. Ed says:
    September 29, 2011 at 3:42 pm

    I totally agree with Geoff Lukens.

    Reply
  14. Dave says:
    October 25, 2011 at 12:00 pm

    I agree with Geoff as well, but here’s the peace, um, to which I’ve come. In the course of work, I review a lot of documents. Some of these really matter a lot, others much less so. If the document is super important (e.g., a Supreme Court brief), I will correct “than” to “from” even if it’s the only change I make. Otherwise I make the change only if I’m making other changes. I see this error ALL the time, and from VERY well-educated people. It’s a bit like the use of “impact” as a verb. I’ve pretty much given up correcting others for “errors” such as these. The cost of pedantry can actually be quite high in the real world. I will try to be correct in what I say and write, but for the most part I’ve given up trying to hold back the tide when it comes to others.
    Also, fwiw, my Webster’s says “than” is both a conjunction and a preposition, the latter when used in the sense of “in comparison with.”

    Reply
  15. Nancie says:
    January 24, 2012 at 7:22 pm

    Say, FYI, if you are taking standardized tests like the GMAT or SAT, “different from” is always used when comapring two nouns and “different than” is used when comparing a noun with a clause.

    Reply

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