Sorry, not a
then DT1 member or greater
than new DT1 member(s) topic.
I have noticed some members who actually have some enough merits misusing than and then. They used
then when in fact they meant
than when opening a topic or replying to a topic. I’m not a major in English professor and not my native language, but, I hope this topic will help newbies and other members to make some improvement regarding these two commonly confused words, especially when instructing or opening a topic that is worth reading.
Searched bitcointalk about this kind of topic, didn't find any. If there are already topic like this, kindly link it here to be added.
Than and then There's nothing more embarrassing then correcting someone's language only to realize that your correction contains its own error.Did you see it? That harmless little four-letter word
then. It should have been
than. That’s one example when using than and then.
Then has two meanings.
1.
Then usually refers to
time, meaning "at that time."
Example of
then meaning "at that time"
2.
Then can also be used as a transition to mean "in that case" or "therefore."
Example of
then meaning "in that case" or "therefore"
Than is used only when
comparing items. (
Then is
never used in comparisons.)
Examples of
than used to compare items
• Expect it to take a little longer than usual for Electrum to be ready. (Correct)
• Expect it to take a little longer then usual for Electrum to be ready. (Wrong)
• I don't think it will be less than hundred. (Correct)
• I don't think it will be less then hundred. (Wrong)
• I would rather eat than sleep. (Correct)
• I would rather eat then sleep. (Wrong)
So when did this pair get so confusing? Turns out they've always been that way. Linguistically speaking, they're identical twins. In Middle English, they were the same word; both spellings were used for all the various meanings. It's been a few hundred years, however, since English has treated them as distinct, which means we have to too. We could go back to Middle English, but we think that would be harder
then—um, that is, harder
than—mastering these.
TIPS: Apart from thinking about the meanings of
than and
then, another way to get the spelling right is to remember that
then is like
when: both are spelled with an ‘
e’ and both are used to talk about
time (which ends with an ‘
e’).
Than is used to make comparisons. Both
than and
comparison have a letter “
A” in them.
SummaryThese two words are very close in their appearance, but than vs. then have very different uses.
Then is commonly used to express a sense of time or what comes next or used to be.
Than is used to form comparisons between two things.
Sources:
then vs than difference2017/06/12/than or then confusables/words at play/when to use then and thanthen than