English is a quirky language, one of the most difficult to master simply because there are so many rules and an equal number of exceptions to those rules.  To be sure, no one follows all the rules all of the time, but being a grammatical purist, I try my best to uphold as many of the rules as I know.  The way I see it, everyday English has deteriorated because of sheer laziness, or because the correct grammar “doesn’t sound right.”  Many of the commonly broken rules in everyday English can be corrected easily with just a little bit of effort.

Here’s a phrase I hear uttered just about every day that makes my skin crawl: “different than.”  I can safely bet that 99% of Americans don’t know that that phrase is wrong and it drives me crazy.  When juxtaposing two or more things using the adjective “different,” the word “FROM” should be used, not “than.”  The reason?  “Different” is the adjective form of the verb “differ,” as in “A differs FROM B.”  So, it stands to reason that when using the adjective (or adverb) form of the verb, we need to use the same modifier.  “The color red is different FROM the color blue.”  Or, “The Cubs are playing differently this year from last year.”  One thing doesn’t differ THAN another thing; it differs FROM it.  See: easy correction.

Remember: Different from.