1. Fowler wrote in 1926 that insistence 'that
different can only be followed by
from and not by
to is a superstition'. It is in fact a 20th century superstition that refuses to go away, despite copious evidence for the use of
to and
than dating back to well before 1700. First of all we should recognize that for much of the time
different, when used predicatively (after a verb) is used without any complement at all:
But tonight would have been different—A. Wells, 1993.
We may then put
than aside for a moment and concentrate on
different from and
different to. The argument in favour of
from is based on the relation of
different to
differ (which is followed by
from in this meaning); but this is an artificial construction based on the principles of Latin and not English grammar, and is contradicted by the varying practice of
accord (
with) and
according (
to). English works by analogy, and here the influence comes from words that have the same function, such as
comparable,
equivalent, and
similar.
2. There are indeed occasions when
from is inelegant and
to is more natural, especially when
different is separated from its complement (e.g. by an adverbial phrase), as will be seen from following examples which illustrate both uses: (from)
Casual shacking up was quite different from holy matrimony—M. Underwood, 1980
The Anglo-American approach to copyright was thought to be different from the approach taken by France and other European countries—New Yorker, 1987
He's no different from my brother, in the end—Nadine Gordimer, 1988
What makes chenille different from other carpets is that it's the product of two distinct processes—E. Blair, 1990
(to) He looked no different at first to other boys Margaret had known—M. Leland, 1986
I found that a meadow seen against the light was an entirely different tone of green to the same meadow facing the light—Scots Magazine, 1986
They don't seem to be any different to us—Chicago Tribune, 1989
Sound waves are very different to water waves but the length of a sound wave changes with its frequency in the same way—J. Downer, 1989.
4. Different than is a more complex issue. It is better established in American English than in British English, especially when
different is followed by a clause:
It used to be they'd play at different times than on the U.S. stations, but not any more—Globe & Mail (Toronto), 1977
This discrepancy is intriguing because most scallops have a very different mode of life than other species—Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 1987
It was in so many ways entirely different than he could ever have imagined-Internet website, American English 2004 [Old English (up to 1150)C].
British English looks more strongly askance at this construction than it does on
different to, and the objection can be better justified on grounds of style than the objection to
to can be justified on grounds of grammar. It is natural to want to avoid an awkward relative construction such as we find in Joyce Cary's much discussed sentence
I was a very different man in 1935 from what I was in 1916; for some the answer is
I was a very different man in 1935 than I was in 1916, but a little lateral thinking might steer us right round the problem by suggesting an alternative:
I was not the same man in 1935 as I had been in 1916. One should not presume to rewrite Joyce Cary, but this kind of solution might do better for those who simply want to stay clear of linguistic mantraps.
4. The case for
to and
than is more compelling, as occasional alternatives to
from, when
different is used in an adverbial phrase such as
in a different sense, and when they follow the adverb
differently, where
from can become uncomfortably cumbersome:
Sebastian was a drunkard in quite a different sense to myself—Evelyn Waugh, 1945
A false sense of security which makes drivers behave quite differently on motorways than on ordinary roads—Daily Telegraph, 1971
The lepidopteran proboscis is very differently constructed from that of the Diptera—Proctor & Yeo, 1973
Perhaps our minds work differently to the physical world around us-G. Hartnell, 2004.
5. Note that
different is commonly found in everyday use as a convenient synonym for more austere words such as
distinct,
separate,
various, etc.:
Children's perceptions of their sexual roles are built up from many different sources—N. Tucker, 1981
After four or five different activities have been described, you read the list of activities—R. McCall, 1992
For sociology graduates there are career opportunities in many different areas—Edinburgh undergraduate prospectus, 1993.
If the exact meanings of the other words given above are needed, use them; otherwise this use of
different is a useful one.
