“THAN” or “THEN”?

Hello. I'm Gill at engVid. And today we have a lesson on two words, which are

very similar, apart from one letter — and the reason I'm looking at this today

is because people often get confused between the two, and they use the wrong

spelling when they are writing it. So, the two words are "than" with an "a",

and "then" with an "e". So, first of all, you can hear that there's a

difference between the vowel sound: "than", "a", "a", "a", "than", and

"then", "e", "e", "e", "en". Okay. So, "than" and "then". So, I do notice when

people are writing something, they often get mixed up and they put the wrong

spelling. So, I'm just showing today the difference between the two, because the

meaning is quite different. So, with "than", the word "than" is used for

comparison; if you're comparing one thing with another thing. So, something

might be "more than" something or "less than" something. So, if you're

comparing, one thing could be bigger than another. You may have a building

here and a building here, and this building is bigger than this building.

Okay? So, it's bigger than. Right. And then this is the big building; this is

the smaller one. So, this building is "smaller than" the bigger building;

"smaller than" and "bigger than" with an "a". Okay. So, the other word, "then" is

more to do with time. Okay? So, if someone's telling you something that

happened to them, and you want to know what happened next, you... and they've

stopped telling you the story, you need to ask them to continue — you might say:

"What did you do then?" If something unexpected happened in the story that

they're telling you, you want to know a bit more: What happened next? "So, what

did you do then?" Meaning next, so "then" with an "e". Okay. And if you're

referring back, usually in the past... so, if you think of 1920 as a year in

the past, you could say: "They didn't have computers then", meaning in 1920.

"They didn't have computers then." Okay. So, it's fairly simple, and they're very

different. One is for comparison; one is for time, meaning time in the past,

usually. Okay.

Okay, so now we just have four sentences with gaps for you to fill in the correct

word. So, let's have a look. So, the first one: "His car is faster _________

mine." Okay. So, which spelling would you use there? I'll write in the first

two letters. So, is it an "a" or an "e"? "His car is faster"... well, "faster" is

a comparison. Fast, faster, faster. So, here's the comparison. So, it's an "a":

"faster than mine". Okay. Right. And the next sentence: "Ten o'clock tomorrow.

Okay, see you _________." Right. So, I'll write in the first two letters

again. So, is this to do with comparison or is it to do with time? Fairly

obvious, I think. "Ten o'clock tomorrow" — making arrangements to meet, so:

"Okay, see you _________." So, to do with time; with an "e". Right. "See you

then." Right. Next sentence. So, if somebody asks: "Do you go swimming?" And

the person replies: "Oh, now and _________." So, is it a comparison or is

it to do with time? So, there's no comparison here, is there? So, "now

and"... this is a particular phrase people use: "now and then". "Now and

then", which means occasionally; sometimes; not that often, but

sometimes. "Now and then". So, "now" is now; "then" is in the past — but in...

in combination, that phrase means sometimes; occasionally. Okay? Good. And

then, finally: "My house is older _________ yours." So, is this comparison

or is it time? So, we've got a comparison word again, haven't we?

"Older"; old, older. So, "My house is older" — comparison — "than"; "older

than yours". Okay. So, I hope that's helped to clarify something that people

sometimes get confused about. If you'd like to do a quiz on this topic, there's

a quiz at www.engvid.com. See... test your knowledge and your spelling

accuracy. And thanks for watching, and see you again soon. Okay. Bye for now.