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Then or Than - English
Then or Than - English
Then or Than - English
A very great
video, actually,
on the difference between "then" and "than". So this is a very, very common mistake
a lot
So before I begin, I'd just like to thank Milly45 for recommending this video idea,
as well as my sister who is constantly making this mistake. She makes this mistake
in business
emails, she makes it on all sorts of very important documents, and she's constantly
told by her boss or other people: "This is a bad mistake to make." So this is also
for
my sister. I hope she watches this, because maybe she won't make these mistakes in
the
First of all, I'd like to talk about the pronunciation, the difference in
pronunciation between "then"
and "than". Okay? So, "then" sounds like "Ken". You know Ken and Barbie? Ken, it
rhymes with
Ken, "then". "Than" is more like "can". So, "can/than", "Ken/then". So there is a
slight
difference in pronunciation; although oftentimes when people speak fast, they might
actually...
You may just hear "then" for both cases. When somebody actually says: "than", you
may hear
Okay, so now let's look at some questions, and I want you to see where you
currently
are in terms of "then" versus "than". How confident are you that you know the
difference
So our first example: "She is bigger then me." Do you think this sentence is
correct?
Number two: "I will come than." What do you guys think?
This one, correct. And I'll go over the explanations in a second, but bear with me.
"I have more money than my sister." Okay? Do you think this is correct?
Yes. Although I don't have more money than my sister, so that part's incorrect.
And number five: "Back than, I took the bus." What do you think?
So, if you have made many mistakes or there are some of these that have confused
you,
this video will really help to help you to learn the difference between "then" and
"than".
Okay, so we're starting with "then", with an "e". Okay? So, what can I tell you
about
"then"? First of all, "then" usually comes at the beginning or the end of a
sentence.
Not always, but often. Okay? So that's one hint. "Than" doesn't come at the
beginning
of a sentence. Another thing I can tell you is that "then" has to do with sequence.
So,
sequence means the order; first, then, finally. You often learn that when you learn
English
in beginner classes. First I did this, then I did that, next I did this, finally I
did
that. Okay? So that's sequence. "Then" also has to do with time. Okay? So, I will
be there
then. I'm going to the store, then I will go visit your house. I will be there at
5:00.
So let's look at some example sentences. "First I rented the movies. Then I watched
all three
LOTRs back to back." So that's a very, very long time to spend on Lord of the
Rings, and
I did do that. So notice the sequence, though. We have first, first action; next
action,
Sentence number two: "We didn't have the Internet back then." Okay? So this is also
common to
say, "back then", when you're looking at today versus the past, we often call the
past
Okay, here's another common expression with "then": "Every now and then,".
So, "every now and then" means sometimes. "Every now and then, I look at my photo
album."
So sometimes I get this urge to look at my photo albums. "Every now and then, I eat
ice cream cake."
It doesn't happen all the time. It happens once in a while. So I guess you could
say:
"Every now and then," very similar to: "Every once in a while," okay. So, again,
"then",
"a". So, when do we use "than"? We use it when we're comparing things. Okay? So
when
we want to compare one thing to another thing, this is when we use "than". So what
are comparatives?
Well, often we may talk about more than. "I have more friends than you." I'm not
saying
that's true. That's probably a horrible sentence, but that's just an example of
"more than".
I could also say: "I have less friends than you." Good possibility. We also have...
If
we have some sort of adjective, plus "er": "I am richer than you.", "I am poorer
than you.",
"I am smarter than some people." So this is just "er" examples. Okay? Also, we
use "than" with "rather". "I would like to go shopping rather than go bowling." For
example.
Sentence number two: "It cost more money than I thought." So this happens a lot
when you
go shopping, you buy something, you didn't really look at the price. "Oh, it cost
more
money than I thought." So, again, if you see the word "more", if you see the word
"less",
if you see something "er", or "rather", these are clues that it's going to be
"than". Okay,
Okay, so we're going to go over the sentences together, and I want you to try to
fill in
"I went to the store to buy milk __________ I realized I forgot my wallet at home."
Okay? If you said: "then", you're correct, because this is a sequence. First
action,
Okay? So, what do you think it is? Do you think it's: "then" or "than"?
"Abdul is funnier than Frank." So, in this case, our clue is the "er", we're
comparing things. We're comparing
Number four: "Vegetables are more expensive in the Yukon __________ Toronto."
So, "Vegetables are more expensive in the Yukon __________ Toronto." What do you
think?
"than". So how do I know it was "than"? Well, we're comparing the Yukon to Toronto,
and
we have this clue, I see the word "more", and right off the bat, I think: "Okay,
more
than." Any time I see "more", it's going to be some sort of comparison. So, in this
case,
So, if you're interested in practicing "than" and "then" some more, I invite you to
come