Then and than, a grammatical gripe

[Drayn]

Yes, I'm a bit of a grammar Nazi, no I'm not ashamed. Anyhoo, on to the point


Then and than

These two words are amongst the most abused in the English language. Often people use one when they mean the other, this problem is rife across the English speaking web world, so I thought I'd write about it here and see if we can't save these poor words


THEN

Then can be used in a number of ways. Typically it is used to refer to the next entity or step in a sequence e.g.

First I got a headache, then my head exploded.

Or it can be used to stipulate a condition

You don't want your head to explode? Then don't get a head ache!

THAN

Than is used for a comparison:

My head is bigger than yours.


So:

If I get a headache, then my head will explode. But if my head is bigger than yours then that means the explosion must also be bigger than yours.


Fellow grammar Nazi's may now begin dissecting my post for my own spelling and grammar mistakes

[Olrane]

While I too expect and demand appropriate word usage, this feels like the wrong subforum for this thread. In the very least, tell where the errors are in game so that they can be fixed.

[Sairina]

They are probably not even written wrong in the game itself, but used by players in the wrong way? But, you see, there's the problem that we're not all native speakers, and it's easy to type something wrong in the heat of the moment, even if you do know better theoretically.

[Drayn]

Yeah, I know there's none native speakers, and I hope it doesn't seem like I'm massively upset about it. Also I've not spotted it in the game descriptions or such. It's not even entirely directed at the players of this game, just the world in general , just intended as a friendly rant and hopefully a bit instructive to those uncertain of the usage of these words (as I say it's quite common).

I should maybe have put this in OOC

[Zehren]

I said "My then is better than yers."
Than I left.