Confusable words

then vs than: what's the difference?

then
adverb
vs
than
conjunction
? ?

Then and than differ by one letter and one sound, but they do completely different jobs. Then is about time. Than is about comparison.

Then

adverb

Then refers to a point in time, or what happens next in a sequence.

  • We had dinner, and then we watched a movie.
  • Back then, phones didn't have cameras.

then full definition →

Than

conjunction

Than is used to compare two things.

  • She's taller than her older brother.
  • This test was harder than the last one.

than full definition →

Side by side

then than
Job Shows time or sequence Shows comparison
Part of speech Adverb Conjunction
Simple test "and then" means what happened next "more than" means compared to

Quick rule

Then is about when. Than is about comparing. If you're comparing two things, you want than, with an A like "comparison."

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