Then or Than?

http://www.engvid.com/ She is taller THEN you or she is taller THAN you? Than and then are words that are often confused by both native English speakers and people learning English. In this lesson, you will learn when to use than and then and how to pronounce them. Watch this video to see many examples of the differences, then try our quiz to test your understanding. http://www.engvid.com/then-than/

TRANSCRIPT:
Hi there. My name is Emma, and today we have a very good video... A very great video, actually, on the difference between "then" and "than". So this is a very, very common mistake a lot of people, both native speakers and ESL students make.

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 future. Okay, so let's get started.

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 "then". So, pronunciation-wise, these two are often pronounced as "then".

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 between these words?

So our first example: "She is bigger then me." Do you think this sentence is correct? Did we use "then" correctly? If you said no, you are correct. This should be "than".

Number two: "I will come than." What do you guys think? This is also incorrect.

"I ate dinner, and then I cleaned up." What do you 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? This one's also incorrect.

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. I will be there then. So it has to do with time.

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, "then". "Then I watched all three LOTRs back to back." Okay.

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 "back then". Today we have Facebook. When I was in junior high, we didn't have Facebook back then. Okay. So, again, this has to do with time.

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", think sequence and think time.