Very often I have been asked this question in class. What’s the difference between Farther /ˈfɑː.ðər/ and Further /ˈfɜː.ðər/ and between Older /əʊldə/ and Elder/ˈel.dər/?
♥ Farther /Further
– Distance: both farther and further are used to talk about physical distance . There is no difference between them.
Ex : Leon is further /farther away than Oviedo
– Additional: Further is used when we want to mean ” additional” ” extra” “more advanced”.
Ex : For further information, see page 153.
♥Older/Elder
We use Elder when we want to talk about the order of birth of the members of a family . They are only used before nouns, ie, in attributive position
Compare:
My elder /older daughter has just found her first job
My sister is two years older than me
My eldest /oldest daughter has just found a job
Peter is the oldest student in his classroom
Now, fancy doing some practice?
