"far away" and/or "faraway"

[eduardo]

Hi,

After some time searching and reading I got more confused. I found:

- faraway (adj)
Synonyms: remote, far-off, far-flung, outlying, distant, far
Antonym: nearby
Synonyms: dreamy, preoccupied, bemused, distant, in a world of your own, daydreaming, engrossed, rapt, absorbed, absent-minded
Antonym: alert

- far away (adv)
Synonyms: far afield, far off, far, far and wide, afar, yonder, distantly, remotely
Antonym: close

As English is not my natural language, it is hard to me to accept those 2 variations as correct. Please... :) ...it is quite obvious that there is a common sense that says: "both are correct"... BUT:
A Google search for "far away" gives 24 million results and for "faraway" gives 4 million. Merrian-Webster Dictionary says: "No entries found that match far away". And so on.

I will be thankfull for a detailed explanation!
Eduardo Marques

[Mariner]

- faraway (adj)
An adjective is used to modify a noun. Thus, faraway can be used as in this example:
The princess was living in a faraway land

It's no different than any other adjective.
The princess was living in a poor/rich/beautiful land

As for far away, it's in essence pretty much like away, modified with far. You can use it the same way as you would use away

He sent his son away
He sent his son far away

That I love you
I have loved you all along
And I miss you
Been far away for far too long

I hope this helps

[eduardo]

Mariner,

Thank you very much for your answer.
But PLEASE forgive me... my brain is refusing to understand!

These are all correct?

"The princess was living in a faraway land." (distant land)
"The princess was living in a far away land." (very distant land)

OR... my text:

"I am far away from ending my book."
"I am faraway from ending my book." (this SOUNDS strange to me!)

Eduardo.

[eduardo]

I was reading other posts and felt I should justify my question and who am I.
I'm not an English teacher nor an English student. I'm a Web Designer and right now I'm writing a text where the word "faraway" is present. That's all.
Usually I search at Internet for answers, but in this case I got confused with what I found and I just want to write my text without errors.
Thanks!
Eduardo.

[Mariner]

No problem

The princess was living in a faraway land.

The princess was living in a far away land.
You will see this is many sentences, but I dare say it's more of an idiom (possibly originating from misspelling faraway). The reason I say this is that you can't replace far away here with any other place adverbial.
E.g.
*The princess was living in a somewhere land



I am far away from ending my book.

*I am faraway from ending my book.


Hope this helps. We could wait for some more opinions

[eduardo]

Mariner,

Thanks again!

I have to confess that I'm not convinced, but I will follow you.
:) I was close to remove it and place a synonym (as just "far") but my text is being published as "I am far away from ending..."

What's worrying me is the fact of Merriam-Webster (Dictionary and Thessaurus) saying there is no "far away". At the Dictionary is "far AND away" but at the Thessaurus there is no match.

So, that's it.
Thank you very much,
Eduardo.

[Mariner]

You will not find an entry of far away in the dictionaries, because they're 2 different words.

[BobK]

Originally Posted by Mariner

You will not find an entry of far away in the dictionaries, because they're 2 different words.

... and 'far and away' means something else.

The rest of her class got marks between 35% and 65%, but her mark was far and away the best - 89%.


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