Than or then?
than is a conjunction meaning “Used in comparisons, to introduce the basis of comparison”; then is an adverb meaning “At that time”. Use than as a conjunction and then as an adverb. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) than is about as common as then.
What is the difference between than and then?
| than | then | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | conjunction, preposition, adverb | adverb, adjective, noun, prefix |
| Meaning | Used in comparisons, to introduce the basis of comparison Introduces a comparison, and is associated with comparatives, and with words such as more, less, and fewer. Typically, it seeks to measure the force of an… At that time; then | At that time Soon afterward Being so at that time |
| Example | The artist worried more than was necessary: there were a lot of people at the exhibition, more than came last year | He was happy then |
| Pronunciation | /ðæn/ /ðɛn/ /ðən/ | /ðɛn/ /ðɪn/ /ðen/ |
| In writing | 1,349 times per million words | 1,175 times per million words |
Sources: than and then in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of than and then
than
- 1
Used in comparisons, to introduce the basis of comparison
The artist worried more than was necessary: there were a lot of people at the exhibition, more than came last year
- 2
Introduces a comparison, and is associated with comparatives, and with words such as more, less, and fewer. Typically, it seeks to measure the force of an adjective or similar description between two…
Patients diagnosed more recently are probably surviving an average of longer than two years
- 3
At that time; then
then
- 1
At that time
He was happy then
- 2
Being so at that time
- 3
That time
It will be finished before then
- 4
The ball of the thumb, or the muscle controlling it
- 5
Soon afterward
He fixed it, then left
- 6
Next in order of place
There are three green ones, then a blue one
- 7
In addition; also; besides
- 8
In that case
If it’s locked, then we’ll need the key
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, than or then?
than appears 1,349 times per million words; then 1,175 times per million words.
than 1,349 times per million wordsthen 1,175 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search than vs then?
“than vs then” is searched about 27,100 times a month on Google and 1,430 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“then vs than”, “than or then”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.