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than ~ then

[slightly different vowel (middle) sound]

“Than” (conjunction/preposition) is ‘used to introduce the second part of a sentence (the subordinate clause of a complex sentence) when comparing two things, persons, groups, situations, etc.; used to compare amounts, numbers; used with “other” to mean except for a particular person or thing; used with “would rather” and “would sooner” to mean that one prefers one thing to another, and with “no sooner” and “ hardly had” to say that one thing happens immediately after another’,

e.g.

She was more beautiful than her mother.   [i.e. She was more beautiful than her mother was beautiful. – subordinate clause of the sentence]

My school is less than a kilometre from our home.

She’d (She would) rather walk than accept a lift from him.

No sooner had she opened the door than the phone rang.

Hardly had they paid off their old debts than they ran into new debts.

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“Then”, as an adverb, is ‘used to refer to a particular time in the past or future; used to introduce the next item in a series of actions; used to say what the outcome/result of a particular statement or action; used to add some more information to the one already given; used at the beginning or end of a conversation or activity, especially to show that it is final’; as an adjective, it is ‘used when mentioning somebody who had a particular position, job, responsibility, title, etc. at a particular time in the past’,

e.g.

She wishes she knew about him then (what she knows now).    [then = some time ago]

I saw him a couple of months ago, but (I) haven’t seen him since then.    [since then = since that time – ‘a month ago’ in this sentence]

If she doesn’t do that job, then I’ll ask someone else to do it.    [then = in that case – if she doesn’t do the job]

Okay then, I’ll meet you at the theatre at six.    [then = all right, that’s agreed]

The present president of the club said he had nothing to do with the accounts approved by the then president a decade ago.   [the then president = the president at that time – ten years ago]

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