They’re not the same, and confusing the two seems to be more common all the time.

It’s yet one more thing that causes me to wonder what’s taught in elementary school these days. I read about all the ways modern teachers try to make learning “fun and exciting,” but then (not than) I ask if anyone realizes these days that learning the proper meaning and usage of common words will never be a lot of fun, but it is one mark of an educated person.

I hated ‘If Than’ statements in school.

The schools are not focused on education. They are focused on making sure the kids pass the state exams.

College is even worse. We have new officers (under age 30) that cannot write coherent reports.

I'm fighting a losing battle with them that OF does not go after COULD/WOULD/SHOULD. They also don't know the difference between then, than, weather, whether, they're, there, their, to, too and everything else you can think of.

Yep.

"Then" is roughly equivalent to "next"; a function of time.

"Than" is roughly equivalent to "compared to", used when discussing how multiple things fare against one another.


More than just what is (or isn't) taught in school, I blame texting and the internet. People learn spelling and grammar primarily from what they read. Back in our day, people read things like books, newspapers, and magazines, which were heavily edited to ensure proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Nowadays, the majority of what people read consists of text messages, social media messages, and other informal written content on the Internet, which is not edited and often incorrect.

Therefore, poor grammar, spelling, and punctuation habits are repeatedly seen and reinforced. It's a losing battle. If you don't already have a solid foundation, both from proper schooling as well as reading copious amounts of properly edited content, you have little hope of developing the correct habits these days.

We're quickly heading the way of Idiocracy. Few young people I know have any interest in reading books. Nearly all young people I know have atrocious spelling and grammar.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
"Then" is roughly equivalent to "next"; a function of time.

A construct that is common to many programming languages:

If (a test condition that returns a value of TRUE or FALSE)
Then {
action(s) if test condition is FALSE
}
Else {
action(s) if test condition is FALSE
}

We need less than more then.

i love the Oatmeal webcomic's collection of comics on Grammar.

http://theoatmeal.com/tag/grammar

except/accept

to/too/two

it's/its

"The Jones' car" vs "The Jones's car" is the one which really gets me though (FYSA - Jones' is the correct one)



seems as long as it is not underlines red, people today think it's the correct word

Another side-effect of the dearth of well-read people in our society is that most folks don't understand (or are afraid to use) "big words".

As a result, English is increasingly becoming dumbed-down to the point of being boringly simple. Descriptors like "really XXXX" or "very, very XXXX" have become the norm.

quote:

Originally posted by Chowser:
I'm fighting a losing battle with them that OF does not go after COULD/WOULD/SHOULD.

Thank you for joining the battle against that and best of luck. This irritates me to no end.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by Chowser:
I'm fighting a losing battle with them that OF does not go after COULD/WOULD/SHOULD.

Thank you for joining the battle against that and best of luck. This irritates me to no end.

Ah...

The difference between the ofs and the of-nots.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
"Then" is roughly equivalent to "next"; a function of time.

A construct that is common to many programming languages:

If (a test condition that returns a value of TRUE or FALSE)
Then {
action(s) if test condition is FALSE
}
Else {
action(s) if test condition is FALSE
}

Whatever happened to: if (test condition) is TRUE?

quote:

Originally posted by cne32507:

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
"Then" is roughly equivalent to "next"; a function of time.

A construct that is common to many programming languages:

If (a test condition that returns a value of TRUE or FALSE)
Then {
action(s) if test condition is FALSE
}
Else {
action(s) if test condition is FALSE
}

Whatever happened to: if (test condition) is TRUE?

It's an optimization - that condition will never happen in the real world.

So they lose the ability to tell the difference between than and then, causing them to use both in a loose manner?

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
except/accept

to/too/two

it's/its

"The Jones' car" vs "The Jones's car" is the one which really gets me though (FYSA - Jones' is the correct one)



seems as long as it is not underlinesd red, people today think it's the correct word

Don't feel bad, I know it was just a typo and that I screw up much worse than that on a regular basis. I just couldn't help myself this time.

They’re there their.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
"The Jones' car" vs "The Jones's car" is the one which really gets me though (FYSA - Jones' is the correct one)

Uh, depends on the style guide being followed.

APA and Purdue: the possessive of a singular name is formed by adding an apostrophe and an s, even when the name ends in s

GPO Style Manual - add apostrophe only

quote:

Originally posted by 2BobTanner:
They’re there their.

There their they're.

How about having an affect, or getting the proper effect?

"That's very unique!"