Different From and Different Than

When using the word “different” to make distinctions between two objects, say “different from,” not “different than.”

Ms. Picky is perfectly aware that “everyone” uses such constructions as “This is different than mine,” or “He told me a different version of the story than that.” Well, alas, “everyone” is wrong. In order to understand why, one needs to understand two ideas:

• That from and than are two different parts of speech and play two different roles, and
• That different is an adjective that does not have a comparative form.

The Role of From:

“From” is a preposition, which is the part of speech called for when making a simple distinction between two objects. (Some other examples of prepositions are in, on, under, beside, over, and with; and all prepositions take pronouns in the objective case, such as me, him, whom, and them.)

Examples of the Preposition From in Comparisons:

His work was very different from mine.

The brown shoes were quite different from the black ones.

Chloe is quite different from him.

The Role of Than:

“Than” is a subordinate conjunction, which is the part of speech used to introduce a subordinate clause. (A subordinate clause is dependent on a main clause and cannot stand alone; some other subordinate conjunctions are although, whenever, while, until, since, and unless.)

Where the Error Originates:

The error of  “different than” originates from occasions when “than” is properly used in comparisons (but by its nature demands a subordinate clause). When the subordinate clause is only implicit, and not explicit (as is often the case), many people, seeing “than” standing alone, without the rest of the subordinate clause, think it looks more like a preposition than like a subordinate clause. Once that idea has planted itself in people’s brains, it’s not much of a reach for them to use than elsewhere as if it were a preposition, with “different.”

Examples:

Her manuscript is much longer than mine (is).

Alistair’s country house is much grander than Leslie’s (is).

He is much taller than I (am).

And now we come to the second idea to be understood.

Different Is Not a Comparative Adjective

Some comparisons are made using comparative forms of adjectives, and those comparisons use the subordinate conjunction than with an explicit or implicit subordinate clause. Long, for example, is the basic form of the adjective. The comparative form is longer (and the superlative form is longest). Comparative adjectives properly take than and an explicit or implicit subordinate clause.

Examples:

His paper is longer than mine (was).

Paul's paper is longer than his (was).

Some adjectives, however, like different, do not have comparative forms, and therefore cannot be used with than to introduce a subordinate clause. Something cannot on its own be “different”; it can only be different in comparison to something else, or different from something else. (Unique is another adjective that has no comparative form. It has as its root uni, which means one. Something cannot be “more unique” or “less unique.” If a thing is unique, it is one of a kind, and there is none other like it.)

Bottom Line: 

From is a preposition that is properly used with different, and takes a noun or pronoun as its object. Than is a subordinate conjunction that is properly used to introduce a subordinate clause.

Mnemonic Device: Remember, “different from,” not “different than.” Think of three f’s (as in those three friends the Three Musketeers): two f’s in different plus one f in from.

Next Week's Post: Troop and Troupe