English Vocabulary for learners

FAR: by far, so far, as far as - examples of use.

Sentences showing how to use 'by', 'far', 'by far', 'so far', as far as', 'this far', that far' and 'how far' in English.
A certain number of expressions containing the word 'far' are also explained below.

BY: (no later than, before a certain time)

You must check out of the hotel by noon.
The report must be finished by Friday.
I leave at 5pm. Will it be ready by then?
I’m so tired I’ll be in bed by nine o’clock!
By the time we get home it’ll be dark.
Is it 8 pm already? The supermarket will be closed by now.
The train will have left by the time we get to the station.
The restaurant will be full by 8 o’clock.

FAR: (distant in space, time, or degree )

The shops are (quite) far from our house.
The girls talked far into the night.
We don't want to move far from our parents.
I think of you often. You are never far from my thoughts.
The children are tired. Is it far to the bus stop?
Let's go for walk. All right, but not too far.
We could visit the museum. It's not far from here.
The old fort was built far in the past.

BY FAR: (by a great amount or degree)

Jason is by far the best player on the team.
This is by far the best cake I’ve ever tasted!
Alice is by far the most talented member of the family.
This is the book I prefer by far.
Housing is by far the most important and most urgent issue.
Tourism is by far the country's best source of income.
It’s the best restaurant in town by far.
It was by far the actor's worst performance.

SO FAR: (up until now)

What have you discovered so far?
I applied for the job but I haven’t received a reply so far.
So far we haven't encountered any major difficulties.
The rescue team has found no survivors so far.
I have sold 18 tickets so far.
The patient is so far showing no progress.
Only a few students have registered so far.
The reaction so far is encouraging.

AS FAR AS: (up to a place, point or limit/to the extent of something)

She can walk as far as the bus stop.
I’ve read the book as far as chapter 4.
I’ll help you as far as I can.
Peter still lives in London as far as I know.
From the top of the hill we have a view as far as the sea.
The passenger turned as far as his seatbelt allowed.
The girl reached up as far as she could.
I can drive you as far as the station.

THIS FAR/THAT FAR/HOW FAR: (this/that/what distance)

Are we nearly there? I didn’t think we would have to walk this far.
300 metres? The boy can’t swim that far!
How far is it from your house to the station?

FAR can sometimes replace 'MUCH':

Liam is far more talented than his brother.
I feel far worse than yesterday.
We had to sit far too close together at the meeting.
The trip was great but the weather was far too hot for comfort.

FAR FROM can mean 'NOT AT ALL':

The boy's behaviour was far from acceptable.
The result of the experiment was far from satisfactory.

EXPRESSIONS with 'FAR':

As far as I’m concerned : in my opinion / in my view
"This discussion is leading nowhere as far as I'm concerned."
A far cry from (something) : very different
"The hotel was a far cry from the description on the website."
Far and wide : everywhere, over great distances or a very large area
"Police and volunteers searched far and wide for the missing child."
Far be it from me : I wouldn’t dare/ on no account would I
"Far be it from me to tell you how to run your business."
Few and far between : scarce or hard to find
"Hotels are few and far between in this region, so we'll take the first one we find."

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