American English?

Question

The text above says "different than" - this is an Americanism.  In British English it should read "different from", or (less favoured) "different to."  However the words are spelt in British English.  I am nitpicking, but isn't this par for the course?!

Accepted Answer

Hi Mary,
Thanks to Maarten I have found the Americanism and corrected it to 'from'. But don't hesitate to let me know if 'to ' is more correct in that sentence.

Answer

Hi Mary,
I agree with you as I sometimes hear this said in Britain and it always grates with me but I cannot find any 'different from/than' in the lesson you pinned.
Where did you see it?
We normally try to accommodate both EN and US differences in our English as our customer base is very broad.

Answer

Cécile - it is at the end of the introductory paragraph “ is different THAN making comparisons with adjectives, verbs or adverbs.”

I think it probably slipped in because ‘than’ is appropriately used in translation of the relevant comparators covered in the lesson.

Answer

Americans do NOT say "different to." Ever. Former American English grammar teacher speaking here.
We use different FROM as part of a prepositional phrase, and different THAN as part of a clause.
He is different from his brother.
He works differently than his brother does.
A lot of Americans use both constructions incorrectly.