They sound similar. They look similar. But they’re not at all alike. Do you know when to use THEN and when to use THAN? The difference is really quite simple.
If you are comparing two things, use THAN.
- Anna is taller THAN Ben.
- The big house costs more THAN the little house.
- Clothes from the Gap cost more THAN clothes from Goodwill.
THEN deals with time, or it shows a sequence.
- I want you to take a bath and THEN go to bed.
- First you must eat your peas. THEN you can have dessert.
- Take a left on First Street, and THEN a right on Pine Avenue.
Got it? 
Until next time, Grammarians…
About Michelle
Welcome! I'm Michelle and I'm glad you're here. Simplify, Live, Love is a blog about simple life in rural Iowa. We are a self-employed, frugal, green, mostly homeschooling family of 6 working to go off the grid on a modern day homestead in Eastern Iowa. Please subscribe for gardening tips, green living hints, recipes, fun giveaways, and frugal ideas. Thanks for stopping by.
I actually printed this out and taped it up by my computer! While I have no problem with other commonly misused words, for some reason I just can’t seem to remember which of these to use! So thank you.:)
You are so welcome! Glad it came in handy for someone!!
This is another discussion my daughter and I had recently. Apparently this difference was mentioned once when she was in regular school. Once. Really? Because children always catch onto things the first time. Right. My daughter then informed me she is glad to have a mom who is something of a grammar nazi. Hahaha.
There are two things that bother me. One is the use of the word “conversate”. I’m pretty sure this is not a word. If it is, it shouldn’t be because when people use it, they sound uneducated. In case you have never had the dubious pleasure of hearing somebody use this word, it is used instead of “converse”: I enjoyed conversating with her.
The second one is “these ones”. I don’t know if this considered wrong or improper. All I know is it grates on my ears. Why can’t they just say “these”? /rant