Difference between ‘другой’ and ‘разный’

It is easy to confuse ‘другой’ and ‘разный’, because both of them can be translated into English as ‘different’. Nevertheless, native speakers would never mix these adjectives up, because they don’t mean the same thing. Read the following examples and judge for yourself.

• Я не хочу этот салат – закажу другой. = I don’t want this salad, I’ll order another one.
• Два года назад моя сестра переехала в другой город. = Two years ago my sister moved to another city.
• Мне нравится жить в деревне: люди здесь другие, не как в городе. = I like living in the countryside: the people here are different from ones in the city.
• Мы разводимся, потому что мы очень разные люди. = We are getting divorced because we are very different people.
• Погода зимой в нашем городе очень разная: иногда очень холодно и снег, а иногда идёт дождь. = The weather in winter in our city varies a lot: sometimes it is very cold and it snows, and sometimes it rains.

As you can see, ‘другой’ can be also translated as ‘another one’, ‘the other’, while ‘разный’ not. One more meaning of ‘разный’ is ‘varying’.

Below is a sentence with both adjectives.

Мои дети живут в разных городах: один сын в Москве, а другой в Петербурге. = My kids live in different cities: one son is in Moscow, and the other one in St. Petersburg.