Bunny

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I see a LOT of people screwing this one up, and a couple of times I have too. So I thought it would be helpful to show the differences.

Than is often used as a comparison of two things. Like you're bigger than that or that building is smaller than that one.

Then is often used as a description of time or in a sequence of events/objects. Like I want to go home then go to bed, or add tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, then dressing.

Some people like to remember them as "than" being used for comparisons and contrast, and "then" being used in logic and time. There's an awesome list of examples here to help you out if you're stuck too :D.

 

 

QuirkyJessi

Fuzzy Kid Bunny

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Gah, this one drives me nuts! I can sorta start to understand when people confuse words like "their" and "there." I've never struggled with it, but they're pronounced the same, so okay, it's a spelling issue.

Then and than, though? I know it's only a letter difference, but they're pronounced different and it doesn't even sound right in a sentence. At least not to me.

 

Bunny

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Ha ha completely understand.

My boyfriend sent me a message on my phone that said "if not him, than who can it be?" The conversation went like this...

Him: If not him, than who can it be?
Me: Who is this?
Him: Gregory
Me: Excuse me, my boyfriend is literate and knows the difference between then and than. Try again.
Him: Aww that's sweet. No one's ever called me literate before.
Me: ...oh. Well, on the flipside I was calling you illiterate too ha ha.

 

Sandra Piddock

Fluffy Baby Bunny

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132 Posts
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I tend to avoid both of these where possible, because they never seem to read right. Even the examples in the source sound clumsy. For instance, in number 4 for 'than,' I would prefer to write, 'We had no choice other than to return home.'  There must be lots of better ways of saying the same thing, but I'm on my second bottle of wine, so I can't actually come up with anything right now.

 

pandandesign

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129 Posts
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The way I remember is that use Than when comparing two things. Then is use for effect and cause during two clauses. One way to remember is that Then is for effect because there's the alphabet "e". On the other hand, Than has the alphabet "a", which is for comparison.

 

daedalus

Growing Baby Bunny

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80 Posts
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The English language is full of these fun little things (affect vs effect for instance....such great fun!).  Sometimes I firmly believe that the language is designed to confuse native and non-native speakers alike.  Good post.

 

angelicagapit

Growing Baby Bunny

Regular Member
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I used to get these two mixed up often. These days, not so much.

Right now, I commonly get "Loose" and "Lose" mixed up. I'm still trying to get its difference stuck into my mind so I wouldn't get mistaken anymore in the future.

 

Sofieb529

Growing Baby Bunny

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I've done some essay editing for first year students at my University and this is such a common error.

 

jackofroses

Newborn Baby Bunny

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My students ALWAYS make this mistake. They also think 'legitimant' is a word.

 

Bunny

Marketing Team

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I've done some essay editing for first year students at my University and this is such a common error.
My students ALWAYS make this mistake. They also think 'legitimant' is a word.

PLEASE tell me you beat them senseless with a cactus or something?! ANYTHING?!

 

FenAlpha

Growing Baby Bunny

Regular Member
31 Posts
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[begins to bubble up with rage]

I cannot tell you how much this annoys me. This is up top with getting "there", "they're" " and "their" mixed up.

I think it depends on the accent. Because in the Uk you can hear the clear difference when you say then and than, but an LA accent kind of makes them sound the same- especially in teen girls I've noticed. Maybe it's just me.

 

QuirkyJessi

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I think it depends on the accent. Because in the Uk you can hear the clear difference when you say then and than, but an LA accent kind of makes them sound the same- especially in teen girls I've noticed. Maybe it's just me.

Oh no, you're right about accents! I don't know about an LA accent specifically (especially since I'm not sure if you're referencing Los Angeles or Louisiana), but in general, some people really do pronounce them exactly the same. And if they pronounce them the same way, then it's difficult to remember how to spell them differently.

 

Bunny

Marketing Team

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6,253 Posts
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Hey FenAlpha, I find your rage inspiring and funny....so check this out!
http://www.creativeburrow.org/writingchat/how-do-people-misspell-what-they-say!/

 

SmartPea85

Newborn Baby Bunny

Regular Member
19 Posts
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I agree these two words are technically pronounced differently, but in our slurred version of english these days, many people say them the same way and are still understood because of context. But spelling the two words can be a nightmare.

When teaching this to second graders, I remind them that they can remember THAN is comparing two things, so you can remember the A stands for "AND" like me and my brother: he his taller than me. Or this ball and that ball. That ball is bigger than the other one.

Cheesy, but that vowel makes all the difference, and if it helps kids it can help adults who still struggle with the difference between these two words.

 

12NDN

Newborn Baby Bunny

Regular Member
8 Posts
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This reminds me of something I just saw on Pinterest. It said
                                                         
   " I would rather snuggle then have sex"                                                   
     If you know your grammar you will not have a problem with this. ."

When I read it I immediately laughed , but I wonder how many people are still left scratching their heads  with no clue as the true meaning of the statement.

 

Bunny

Marketing Team

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6,253 Posts
Karma: +94/-1
I agree these two words are technically pronounced differently, but in our slurred version of english these days, many people say them the same way and are still understood because of context. But spelling the two words can be a nightmare.

When teaching this to second graders, I remind them that they can remember THAN is comparing two things, so you can remember the A stands for "AND" like me and my brother: he his taller than me. Or this ball and that ball. That ball is bigger than the other one.

Cheesy, but that vowel makes all the difference, and if it helps kids it can help adults who still struggle with the difference between these two words.

Don't forget then is a sequence of things... a then b then c, for example. So if something comes after something else then it's then ha ha.

But great efforts!! :D

This reminds me of something I just saw on Pinterest. It said
                                                         
   " I would rather snuggle then have sex"                                                   
     If you know your grammar you will not have a problem with this. ."

When I read it I immediately laughed , but I wonder how many people are still left scratching their heads  with no clue as the true meaning of the statement.

I've seen that on Facebook and let me tell you how many people have riled up...it's sad!

 

QuirkyJessi

Fuzzy Kid Bunny

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477 Posts
Karma: +58/-0
This reminds me of something I just saw on Pinterest. It said
                                                         
   " I would rather snuggle then have sex"                                                   
     If you know your grammar you will not have a problem with this. ."

When I read it I immediately laughed , but I wonder how many people are still left scratching their heads  with no clue as the true meaning of the statement.

I've seen that on Facebook and let me tell you how many people have riled up...it's sad!

Lol!

I hadn't seen that one before, I like it. ;)

 

Shyla

Newborn Baby Bunny

Regular Member
10 Posts
Karma: +1/-0
That kind of mistake is very common on the internet as well. I often read that in one gag site. Here in Philippines, we are quite particular with the usage of the basic words like than vs then and they're vs their.  We don't have problem using those words but we usually make mistakes when it comes to articles and prepositions.

 



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Jade Elizabeth (Bunny) is a Poet who has made 6253 posts since joining Creative Burrow on 12:15am Sun, Nov 2, 2008. Bunny was invited by No one (creator of this site).

About Bunny
Jade Elizabeth is an eccentric young woman who enjoys writing stories and poems with hidden deeper meanings. She is quoted saying “Writing to me is not a hobby. It's a passion. It's something that lets my thoughts expose themselves, and my heart shine through where other art could not.

Commonly her poems are inspired by love or depression, and are dedicated to the people who encouraged the emotion. Given the chance she will readily pull her poems apart, exposing the deeper and hidden meanings behind her words.

Her stories are usually unspoken messages to those close to her – giving every story a hidden meaning. Some things are better left unsaid, or in her case, expressed indirectly through stories.

Jade used to write Documentation for Simple Machines in her free time, but has since begun studying and working, which takes up most of her free time now.

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Romance, Fantasy, and Sad Stories and Poems.

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