Type "better then ever" into any document and the red squiggle never appears — because then is a perfectly spelled word. It's just the wrong one. Then/than slips survive software and human skim-reads because both words are short, common, and pronounced nearly the same in casual speech. Fixing them for good takes one association, held firmly.
The difference in one line each
Then deals with time and sequence: "we ate, then we left." It also means "in that case" ("if you're hungry, then eat") or "at that time" ("prices were lower then"). Than makes comparisons: "she's taller than me," "better than ever," "less than $50." If the sentence is ranking two things against each other, it's than. If it's saying what happened next, it's then.
The anchor trick
Two anchors, pick whichever sticks. The vowel anchor: than and comparison share the letter a; then and when share the letter e — and when is literally about time. The swap anchor: if you can replace the word with "when" and the sentence still works, you want then. "We'll finish, then celebrate" → "we'll finish when we celebrate" — sequence confirmed. If you can replace it with "compared with", you want than.
The errors in the wild
| ✗ Wrong | ✓ Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| More then one way | More than one way | Comparison |
| Better then ever | Better than ever | Comparison |
| Less then 10 minutes | Less than 10 minutes | Comparison |
| Larger then life | Larger than life | Comparison |
| Rather this then that | Rather this than that | Preference = comparison |
| First we plan than we build | First we plan, then we build | Sequence |
| Back than, phones had keys | Back then, phones had keys | "At that time" |
| If it rains, than we stay | If it rains, then we stay | "In that case" |
The tricky middle ground
A few constructions genuinely allow both words — with different meanings. "We'd rather hire more developers then outsource" describes an order of events (hire, afterwards outsource); "…rather hire more developers than outsource" describes a preference between two options. Same nine words, opposite plans. "Other than" (meaning "except") is always than, and so is "no sooner… than." When a sentence contains both a comparison and a sequence — "sales rose, then fell lower than last year" — read it aloud in order: each slot decides its own word.
Test yourself
- "The meeting is longer ___ expected." (than — comparison)
- "Save the file, ___ close the app." (then — sequence)
- "Prices were higher ___." (then — "at that time")
- "No one else ___ Sam knew." (than — "except" family)
- "If the count is over the limit, ___ trim it." (then — "in that case")
Five for five and you're ahead of most of the internet. For the other high-frequency confusable pairs, see affect vs. effect and its vs. it's — and if the deadline matters more than the grammar, paste the draft into the WordlyCount counter to check length first, then fix the one-letter stuff.