[General] So far, by fay

[rasmus300]

Hello,

I just want to know which (or both) is/are correct.


"He is the most handsome guy in the school by far."

OR

"He is the most handsome guy in the school so far."

I would like you to help me out this.


Thank you.

 

[MikeNewYork]

They are both correct, but I prefer the first. The second is based on future conditions.

 

[Raymott]

They mean different things, and because of your beautiful, correct punctuation and quoting, I'll explain them!
1. "By far" mean "by a long way". It's better understood from a more concrete example. If I can jump 2 meters, and you can jump 3.5 meters, then you are better than me by 1.5 meters, which is "by far". It means, he is without doubt the most handsome guy in the school. "By a long shot" is a colloquial way of saying this.

2. "So far" means "up until now (in time)". It's a completely different concept. So a girl might say, ""He is the most handsome guy in the school so far, but they are still taking enrolments." (So a more handsome guy might still turn up.)

 

[Raymott]

They are both correct, but I prefer the first.

How can you prefer the first when they mean completely different things? Surely the choice depends on the intended meaning.

 

[MikeNewYork]

All I can do is try to understand what the OP intended.

 

[MikeNewYork]

If the OP disagrees, the OP can say so.

 

[Raymott]

All I can do is try to understand what the OP intended.

Possibly you could mention that. Or say something like; "I prefer 1, because I think that's what you mean" - which would make sense. If he meant 2, no doubt you'd change your preference. I think any teacher would prefer the version which reflects the learner's meaning.

PS: How can the OP disagree if he doesn't know the assumptions you've made? If I were the OP, I would assume that you consider that they mean the same thing, and that you prefer 1.
Naturally, you can reply in whatever way you wish though.

 

[MikeNewYork]

And I will. Call it a gut feelling. Do you have a problem with that?

 

[Raymott]

And I will. Call it a gut feelling. Do you have a problem with that?

Obviously. I've already mentioned the problem. But I'm not going to discuss it further. As I said, you can reply as you wish.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Read my post again. I provided an alternative meaning for the second. I did reply in the way that I wished. Thank you for the permission to do so.

 

[Rover_KE]

Thread closed, gentlemen.

PMs exist for this sort of spat.