Dear Geist,

Which is correct: “different than,” “different from” or “different to”? I jumped on the Internet bus to sort it out myself and gave up half an hour later, more confused than when I got on. Help!

—Joachim, Kent, WA

Dear Joachim,

Any of the three is fine. Grammarians prefer different from over different than, because it is slightly more grammatically correct when either one is followed by a noun—for instance, “My experience was different from yours.” But it’s a small point. Writers and speakers of English all over the world use these two forms, as well as different to (more often in British English) interchangeably, so no one is going to the wall on it. Either way, we commend you for checking!

—The Editors