🌻說實話,連很多母語人士也會不小心混用 farther, further 跟 farthest , furthest,因為有時候抽象跟實際的距離是比較難拿捏的,例如:The end may be further/farther than you think. (結局跟你想的不一樣。)不過它們之間還是有正確性上的差異。比如在國外讀中小學的話,當地英文老師會以專業的角度告訴你,它們之間還是有不一樣的唷!
大致分這兩組:
❶ 強調距離的「遠」(點到點) ➜ 比較級:farther | 最高級:farthest
❷ 包含程度上的「多跟廣」(面到面) & 距離的「遠」(點到點)➜ 比較級:further | 最高級:furthest
也就是說,further/furthest的使用頻率會比farther/farthest來的高很多,因為further/furthest囊括了兩種意思:程度上的、以及距離上的,因此較不會出錯。
“further/furthest”在使用意義上來看,包括【資訊量的增加】或【肉眼可見的距離】。
“farther/farthest”則只有帶給人【肉眼可見的距離】的感覺而已。所以除非很確定是表達「明確、可見的距離」,否則不建議使用farther/farthest。
e.g. 開車的時候,同伴問:How much farther?(還有多遠的路?)
e.g. 前方道路維修,所以:You can’t drive any farther. (你無法再開更遠了。)
e.g. John jumped farther than six feet. (John跳得比6英尺遠。)
要選擇使用哪一種,說實在的還蠻主觀的!連母語人士也常常搞混。不過如果怕出錯,建議一律使用further/furthest。
🌻以下有些習慣用法,是需要特別留意記住的喔。
習慣的搭配用法:
- further information 進一步的資訊
e.g. For further information , please contact Ms. Wong. - further details 更多細節
e.g. Further details about the building are available from its website. - further questions 更多疑問
e.g. I intended asking you further questions about this matter. - further research 更多研究
e.g. Further research is needed to confirm these results. - consider…further 更加仔細考慮…
e.g. It’s necessary to consider this point further. - further action 進一步的行動
e.g. No further action is necessary.
可以混用的例子: - e.g. The explanation, which is very plausible, is positively the furthest/farthest from the truth.
- e.g. The planet, which is farthest/furthest from the Sun , has less gravitational pull from the Sun.
- e.g. The thought is farthest/furthest from my mind.
- e.g. Nothing could be further/farther from the truth. (諺語:真相完全不是如此。)
- e.g. Jupiter is very much further/farther away from us than the moon.