One last note about using than

This is a brief and straightforward rule. In sentences where the writer is expressing how something is unlike something else using the word different, the word than is sometimes incorrectly used after the word different. The correct word to use in such a case is from.

• Use from after the word different instead of the word than.

The leaves on this tomato plant look different from the leaves on the others.

The path he chose was different from the one I chose.

In Brief: Use different from, not different than.

More about than

Last week's post explained that than, not then, should be used when making a comparison. The word than also causes confusion when a pronoun is used after it in the comparison. Writers tend to use the incorrect form of the pronoun because they treat than as if it were a preposition (which it isn't) and use the objective form of the pronoun.

Does that sound confusing? If you're not an English major, it might. You really don't have to memorize the cases of pronouns or remember the reason for using a particular case. You just need to remember the trick.

The problem arises because we leave out words when using a pronoun after than. The trick is to mentally insert them.

• Find the correct pronoun to use after than by mentally supplying the missing words.

The following example shows how we are tempted to express the camparison incorrectly:

Keith can type a lot faster than her. {incorrect!}

This may sound all right, but it's not. If you add the 'understood' words that have been left out, you will see why:

Keith can type a lot faster than she [can].

It may sound strange, but she is the correct form of the pronoun. When you supply the missing thought, her does not make sense.

Generally, the subjective form of the pronoun is the correct one since the objective form does not make sense. However, some sentences make sense with either form, but the form you use changes the meaning of the sentence.

I have know Jerry longer than he [has known Jerry].

I have known Jerry longer than [I have known] him.

In Brief: To use the correct pronoun after than, mentally supply the missing words.

Using than and then

I've read a lot of high school English papers and manuscripts for other writers. Two words that frequently cause confusion are the words than and then. Rarely do writers use than when they should use then; it's usually the other way around. Here are some tips to clear up the confusion.

• Use than in comparisons.

Use than to compare two people, places, things, actions, groups, activities, preferences, etc. The use of a comparative form - using an -er ending or the word more - often indicates the comparison. For instance, one thing may be bigger, shorter, faster, redder, or easier than something else. Or one thing may be more effective, more difficult, more inclined, more beautiful, or more current than something else.

She was much more interested in tasting the cranberry-apple pie than in making it.

I would rather suffer with New Jersey's allergies than live in Florida's heat.

The word then is never used to compare two things.

• The word then generally has some meaning relating to time. It can mean next in time or next in order, at that time or at another time, or can refer to something that happened in the past. Sometimes it can be used to mean therefore.

First, you double-check your measurements; then, you cut out the pieces.

Calculators didn't exist when I started teaching; I made the calculations by hand then.


In Brief: Use than, not then, in comparisons.