January 31, 2012

This, Then That, Rather Than the Other Thing

Here’s a pair of homonyms I often see badly battered by abuse on the internet. “Then” is a measurement of time, used to put two events into their proper chronological order: “I went to the store, and then I went to the bank.”

“Than” is used to compare two things: “I would rather go swimming than do errands.”

Remember them this way: “then” and “when” are spelled almost the same, while “than” and “compare” both have an “a” in them.

 ~Marie

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