Which to use
“than” is a conjunction and “then” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,584
- “than” frequency rank
- #25,065
- “then” frequency rank
- 44649
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | than | then |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que, de lo que. | Entonces. |
Where the eye mixes than and then
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses than with then
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: than is /ðæn/ while then is /ðɛn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “than” becomes e in “then”, and the parts of speech differ too (conjunction vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44649, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
than is recorded at frequency rank #19,584, classified as aconj, pronounced /ðæn/. then is at rank #25,065, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ðɛn/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 44649, this pair ranks #135,893 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of than vs then
Shared letters: hnt. Private to "than": a. Private to "then": e.
"than" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "then" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "than" for "then" ever safe?
Which is more common, "than" or "then"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "than" and "then" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "than" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "then" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #135,893 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "than" and "then" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tem vs then". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #135,893 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.