Then vs. Than

Classic "Chingrish"

Non-native English speakers aren't the only ones who botch the English language. I hear English misused so often. I know that I, as an English teacher, make many mistakes too. There are some things that I come across more than others and have finally come to a head where I must blog about them.

There is a lot that I think of writing about these days, things that are much more important than (take note of how I used that word) what this post is about, but I seem to put them off when I think of the time that it will take to really cover the topic. I'll still try to get to those sometime.

One quick grammar error that I see a lot of people doing--and I'm sure that I do at times--is mixing up 'than' and 'then'. They have different uses.

Than is used when comparing things such as in my example above. Comparing would be things such as more important than ______, less painful than _______, stickier than ______, etc. Another example would be, "I'd rather have dark chocolate than milk chocolate."

Then is used in regards to time: I need to get some groceries, then I will go to the post office.

It is also used in "if...then" statements: If you study hard in high school, then you can get into a good college.

In addition: She wanted $100 and then interest too.

As a consequence: If you want to play with your friends, then you need to clean your room first.

There a are couple of other rules, but the biggest reminder that I think of is if I am comparing things, then I'll use 'than'. If not, then it's probably 'then'.

Adapted from http://hubpages.com/hub/Grammar_Mishaps__Then_vs_Than