Different 'From' or 'Than'?

Your grammar textbook may say you should never use different than.

However, in American English, we use both "different from" and "different than" to mean not the same.

We use them before a noun phrase.

For example, it's different from other shows.

State laws may be different from national laws.

Their ideas are a little different than ours.

We can also use them before a clause.

For example, how are these different from the ones we had before?

That is not any different than what I said.

Dating is different than it was ten years ago.

Both phrases have the same meaning, but their usage is different.

We use different than mostly in spoken English.

It is more informal, and it is almost always used before a clause.

We use different from mostly in written English, and we use it far more often than different than.

So, either sentence is okay in spoken American English, but different from is the better choice because it comes before a noun phrase.

We hope this explanation has helped you.

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I'm Gina Bennett.