Adinnieken said:
Ajescent said:
Adinnieken said:
Ajescent said:
Slightly on (not really) topic question. I'm convinced it's "Different from or to" but I keep hearing people saying it's "Different than" As in Apples are different from/to/than oranges. Am I right? |
No.
All three are technically acceptable. "Different from" is the most widely accepted, "Different to" is chiefly British, and "Different than" is not prefered but acceptable. Than is used for comparison, so I'm not sure why one would feel it is incorrect, personally.
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"Different than" suggests there are 3 items being referred to e.g "Apples are more different than Oranges to tangerines". But in the example I gave, only 2 items are being compared, "than" is incorrect.
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I'm telling you, "than" is an accepted form. Type "Different from, Different to, Different than" in Google or Bing and you'll find a topic that actually covers this.
http://data.grammarbook.com/blog/adjectives-adverbs/different-from-vs-different-than/
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/different-from-different-to-different-than/
Than = compared to
Thus "An apple is different compared to an orange." or "An apple is different than an orange."
EDIT: Links added
I'm not saying it's a preferred use, I'm just saying it is an accepted use.
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http://www.dailywritingtips.com/different-from-different-to-different-than/
It would seem, then, that any of the three is acceptable.
Nevertheless, the concluding advice at Bartleby.com agrees with my own:
…for Formal and Oratorical levels: stick with different from.
I think I'll stick to my way.
