“She’s taller then her brother.”
‘Then’ places things in time. No time is being discussed here.
Confusables Entry 06 / 1011 60-second read
Then vs. Than
Time versus comparison — two different jobs, one letter apart.
The comparisoni
“She’s taller than her brother.”
‘Than’ is used to compare.
More examplesii
01
This year is worse then last.
This year is worse than last.
Comparing two years — that’s ‘than.’
02
First we ate, than we danced.
First we ate, then we danced.
A sequence in time — that’s ‘then.’
The ruleiii
¶
THAN compares. THEN is time.
If you’re measuring one thing against another, use THAN. If you mean ‘next’ or ‘at that time,’ use THEN.
Notesiv
Register
Universal, and one of the most common autocorrect-resistant mistakes in writing.
Watch for
‘Different than’ (common in American English) versus ‘different from’ (preferred in British English) — both are comparisons, so both use than/from, never ‘then.’
Memory aidv
Remember it like this
ThAn = compAre. ThEn = timE.
In the wildvi
Real-world-style usage — how this looks in a sentence people would actually write.
- She is sharper than her résumé let on — and a better writer than most of her peers.
- If you finish by Friday, then we’ll ship the release on Monday.
Test yourselfvii
Which is right?