Writers Talk About Writing Vive La Difference: Comparatively
Speaking Am I "different than" you? Or "different from " you?
And does it matter? "Different than is often considered inferior
to different from," Garner's Modern American Usage says. We
certainly don't want to be inferior. It's because the word
"different" implies a contrast, while the preposition "than" is
used for making a comparison (Her piece of cake is bigger than
his). The preposition "from," on the other hand, automatically
sets up a comparison: "She is 14 miles from home," for example,
compares the difference between where she is and where home is.
Yes, contrasts can be comparisons, but most of the time when
people are saying something is "different," they are trying to
make a contrast. As we've seen so many times before, getting
people to think logically about English is not the easiest task.
And for many people — for more than 300 years — "different than"
sounds just fine. Even Garner's acknowledges so: "Still, it is
indisputable that dif