Why does "подальше", not "дальше", seem like a choice by default in some phrasings?

Question

Ты что, собираешься перебраться в деревню, подальше от любопытных глаз?

{vs}: Ты что, собираешься перебраться в деревню, дальше от любопытных глаз?

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Так засунь подальше свои эмоции и решай насущные проблемы!

{vs}: Так засунь дальше свои эмоции и решай насущные проблемы!

When I say something like the above in conversation, I seem to use "подальше" rather than "дальше" almost by default. There are some particular instances/phrasings where the use of "подальше" with understatement seems like a must choice and substituting "дальше" seems simply out of place, although a standard comparative adjective/adverb can usually be swapped in at will, if you like, in place of their "по-" prefix-counterpart.

I'm wondering if there are other phrases like these where the use of a comparative adjective/adverb with the "по-" prefix is preferred almost by default.

Answer 1

Подальше DOES NOT necessarily mean "very far" or "far away", definitely doesn't mean "as far as you can" - that will be "как можно дальше". It can mean a) a bit farther b) far enough away c) Really far away (but that usually used figuratively).

"Давай проедем подальше" does not mean let's drive as far as we can, on the contrary it means "let's drive a little more (perhaps looking for a parking spot and not quite ready to give up).

Similarly "Отойди подальше" does not mean "get away as far as you can", it simply means "walk on a further". If the intonation is threatening it CAN imply something like "get the hell away from me (or it will get ugly)", but otherwise it's just a request to move a bit further. Plus if you really want to convey that you want them to move far away you'd say something like "Отойди-ка от меня подальше, повторяться не буду."

"Я бы так хотел уехать подальше отсюда" does indeed imply that you want to get the hell away from here, as far as possible, however "Я переехал подальше от работы" simply means that you moved and now you live farther from work than you used to. It can be just a bit farther.

Basically подальше CAN mean "as far away as possible" (especially when used as a figure of speech, wishful thinking, etc.), but by far and large it just means "a bit further". Same way поближе just means "a bit closer", "closer than that even", it does not mean "as close as possible".

When using straight distance comparison between two things you сan for the most part use both forms, but подальше/поближе is a bit more colloquial.

"Её дом подальше моего" is fine, But to me "eё дом ещё дальше моего" sounds better, less folksy.

Подальше means "farther", while дальше сan mean both "farther" and "further". You absolutely cannot say "Да, я и подальше собираюсь этим заниматься!" or "Он хочет в карьере пройти как можно подальше.". When you're not talking about some physical distance use дальше.

Дальше can also mean "go on" when asking someone to continue or simply "ok, let me continue/elaborate more" when you're about to continue.

"Так, значит продалжаю дальше, если никто не против."

It can also mean "after that" -

"А дальше там такое началось, что я не выдержал и уехал домой".

"Ну понял. А дальше?" - "Ok, got it, and then what?"

"Подальше" сan never be used in those cases.

If request to move something (or someone) farther or closer is repeated, you can say "подальше/поближе" the first time; but when you repeat it (needing more/less distance) you simply say "дальще/ближе", "ещё дальше/ближе" or simply "eщё"

Answer 2

Дальше means farther

Подальше means

1. a little farther
2. far enough (from the starting point)

In the meaning of "a little farther" those words are synonyms and largely interchangeable. But in the meaning of "far enough" "подальше" is different from "дальше". "подальше от любопытных глаз" and "засунь подальше" fall under this category. It does not mean that something or someone should be moved comparatively farther, and neither moved as far away as possible - only that it has to be moved far enough to satisfy some requirement (not to be seen etc.).

Answer 3

Дальше is farther or further.

Подальше if far away. It is even farther than far.

In the phrase засунь подальше it is an euphemism, I would say, a set one, and дальше here would mean sth like pass it further.

Куда подальше is also an idiom.

Comp. передай дальше - pass it to the next person in the row.

If we say передай подальше, it means с глаз долой.

Бросай мяч дальше - throw the ball to the next player.

Бросай мяч подальше - throw the ball as far as you can.

Беги дальше - go on running.

Беги подальше - run as far as you can.