Last time we talked about Were, We’re, and Where. Lets do a quick review!
Were: past tense of “to be” in second person plural. Example: “We were going to the movies when the car broke.”
We’re: A compounded word for “we” and “are”. Example: “We’re going to the movies tomorrow.”
Where: A location word. Example: “Where are we going to see the movie?”
So, now let us talk about “then” and “than”. These two words are very often misused, even among native speakers.
“Then” is an adverb that generally is used to show time in a sentence. This word can have many different synonyms because it is dealing with time. Examples: “I made breakfast then took a shower.” “I stretch first then run on the treadmill.”
“Than” is a word used for comparing items and cannot be replaced in the sentence. It does not have as many synonyms and is more often used in spoken English. Examples: “I like apples better than oranges.” “Your car is bigger than mine.”
These two words are ranked in the top 100 words used in the English language and are also on the top 100 misused words in English.
So, when thinking about which word to use, “then” or “than”, think about if you are comparing something or not. If you are comparing two or more things, then your word will be “than”. If not, then more than likely you will use “then”!
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below!
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Adventures in English 