Than and Then

It drives me so insane when people misuse these words because it seems so stupid. I screw up stuff, too. I know I'm guilty of grammar errors, but this is my blog for my rants. So, deal with it!

THEN is an adverb and is commonly used to specify time or sequence of events:

• “First add the eggs, then mix in the sour cream.”
  
• “Finish your homework then you can watch television.”
  
• “When did you call Suzie? I did it just then.”

THEN can also be used to imply “also, in addition, in that case, therefore.” Some examples of this usage are:

• “I give money to the American Cancer Society, then I also do fundraising on top of that.” (“also/in addition to” example)
• “If you study hard, then you have nothing to worry about on next week’s exam.” (“in that case/therefore” example)
  

You can also use THEN for emphasize an inference being drawn or to end a conversation:

• “So, you mean that you do actually like The Backstreet Boys, then.” (“emphasizing an inference” example – emphasizing my inferring that somebody actually does like The Backstreet Boys)
• “I will see you later, then.” (“ending a conversation” example)
  

THAN is a bit more tricky, but we can rule out that it is not interchangeable with THEN. With that said, let’s move on to a discussion of THAN. Funny point – don’t read this if you will get easily confused – then and than did USE to be the same word in Old English. Now, no current users lived when Old English was spoken, so you can’t use that as a defense!

THAN is a word used to compare items:

• “Her dog is bigger than my dog.”
• “I am taller than my sister.”

THAN can be used to introduce an exception or contrast:

• “I have nothing to eat at my house other than last night’s left overs.” (example of exception)
• “She would rather starve than cook a meal.” (example of contrast)

THAN can be used to express immediacy in sequence of events (not a synonymous use with “then”):

• “No sooner had I paid the final bill, than the car fell apart.”

THAN can be a conjunction or a preposition. That makes “than” a tricky word to use with personal pronouns. It’s your call on how you decide the appropriate usage for the scenarios explained below. Usually scenario one is considered the more formal usage.

As a Conjunction:
Some grammarians insist that the appropriate personal pronoun to follow “than” would be the subjective case (I, he, she): you are no better than I, he scored higher than she, I am shorter than he. In these cases, some would say you are using “than” as a conjunction and therefore, should follow it with subjective pronouns (According to the American Oxford Dictionary, the use of “than” and the personal pronoun “stand in” for a full clause: “she is better than I am” is implied by “she is better than I”; “Joe is more handsome than he is” is implied by “Joe is more handsome than he.”).

As a Preposition:
Other folks argue that the use of “than” in the context of comparisons is just like using a preposition such as “between.” If you deem that your use of “than” is a preposition, then it’s perfectly fine for perfectly fine to use the objective pronouns like “me,” “her,” “him,” and “them.” The examples above would change to “she is better than me,” and “Joe is more handsome than him.”

I hope this helps with your use of THAN and THEN.