Meaning & use
differently
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Meanings
adverbnot comparable
In a way that is not the same as another way or as before.
Grammar: Often followed by from or, in American English, than: act differently from others.
Patterns
- differently from someone
- differently than someone
- think differently
Twins can react differently to the same medicine.
I would have handled the meeting differently.
She dresses differently from her sister.
adverbnot comparable
In an unusual or original way that others do not follow.
Grammar: Usually after a verb, with no comparison stated: think differently.
Patterns
- think differently
The company encourages staff to think differently.
He teaches differently, using games instead of lectures.
Common combinations
- think differently
- Artists often think differently about problems.
- treat someone differently
- Nobody should treat you differently because of your age.
- do things differently
- If we did things differently, we might win.
- behave differently
- He behaved differently after the promotion.
- feel differently
- I feel differently about the move now.
- look at something differently
- The trip made me look at life differently.
Synonyms and how they differ
- otherwise
- Otherwise often means in the opposite way or if not, as in believing otherwise, whereas differently stresses a changed manner.
- variously
- Variously means in several different ways at once, while differently compares one way to another.
- uniquely
- Uniquely means in a way no one else shares, which is stronger than differently.
- distinctively
- Distinctively suggests a manner that is easy to recognize, whereas differently only says not the same.
Opposites
Word family
- different adjective
- not the same
- difference noun
- the way things are not the same
- differ verb
- to be unlike
- differentiate verb
- to tell apart
Commonly confused: differently or different?
differently vs different
Different is an adjective describing a noun, while differently is an adverb describing a verb: a different plan, plan differently.
Practice
Which sentence is correct?
Choose one answer.
Differently is an adverb modifying sings, and it is followed by from. The adjective different cannot modify a verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “differently”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.