Than
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English
Pronunciation
- (stressed): thăn, /ðæn/, /D{n/
- (unstressed): thən, /ðən/, /D@n/
Etymology
In etymology, it represents Old English þanne, which was a variant of þonne, meaning "then". It is therefore cognate with German denn, "than," and dann, "then;" in Danish the same word dan serves for both "then" and "than." It represents the old dative or instrumental case of the pronoun that.
Conjunction
than
- A grammatical particle and preposition in the English language. It introduces a comparison, and as such 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 predicates.
Usage
Usage prescriptionists have ordained a number of rules concerning than that those who do not wish to be edited or corrected may wish to note. These prescriptive grammarians deny that than is a preposition that invariably governs the oblique case, although it has been used as such by writers such as William Shakespeare, whose 1600 play Julius Caesar| contains the line:
- A man no mightier than thyself or me. . .
and w:Samuel Johnson, who wrote:
- No man had ever more discernment than him, in finding out the ridiculous.
In actual usage, then, than functions as both conjunction and preposition; when it is used as a conjunction, it governs the nominative case, and when a preoposition, the oblique case. This rule, while describing the usage of the word in modern English, is thought insufficiently rigid by some, and deprives those who enjoy correcting their neighbours of a source of mostly innocent fun. So the prescriptionist rules have not been allowed to entirely lapse.
To determine the case of a pronoun following "than" observing the prescriptionists' rules, a writer must look for extra understood words and determine how they relate to the pronoun.
Examples:
- You are a better swimmer than she.
- Represents You are a better swimmer than she is.
therefore You are a better swimmer than her is a solecism.
- They like you more than her.
- Represents They like you more than they like her.
therefore They like you more than she is a solecism.
