''Than'' is a

grammatical particle In grammar, the term ''particle'' ( abbreviated ) has a traditional meaning, as a part of speech that cannot be inflected, and a modern meaning, as a function word (functor) associated with another word or phrase in order to impart meaning. Alth ...

analyzed as both a conjunction and a

preposition Adpositions are a part of speech, class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in, under, towards, behind, ago'', etc.) or mark various thematic relations, semantic roles (''of, for''). The most common adpositions are prepositi ...

in the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

. It introduces a comparison and is associated with

comparative The degrees of comparison of adjectives and adverbs are the various forms taken by adjectives and adverbs when used to compare two entities (comparative degree), three or more entities (superlative degree), or when not comparing entities (positi ...

s and with words such as

more More may refer to: Computing * MORE (application), outline software for Mac OS * more (command), a shell command * MORE protocol, a routing protocol * Missouri Research and Education Network Music Albums * ''More!'' (album), by Booka Shade, ...

less Less or LESS may refer to: Computing * less (Unix), a Unix utility program * Less (style sheet language), a dynamic style sheet language * Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS), a product development framework that extends Scrum Other uses * -less, a priv ...

, and fewer. Typically, it measures the force of an

adjective An adjective (abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main part of speech, parts of ...

or similar description between two

predicate Predicate or predication may refer to: * Predicate (grammar), in linguistics * Predication (philosophy) * several closely related uses in mathematics and formal logic: **Predicate (mathematical logic) **Propositional function **Finitary relation, o ...

Usage

Case of pronouns following ''than''

According to the view of many English-language prescriptivists, including influential 18th-century grammarian

Robert Lowth Robert Lowth ( ; 27 November 1710 – 3 November 1787) was an English clergyman and academic who served as the Bishop of Oxford, Bishop of St Davids, Professor of Poetry and the author of one of the most influential textbooks of Englis ...

, ''than'' is exclusively a conjunction and therefore takes either

nominative In grammar, the nominative case ( abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case, or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb, or (in Latin and formal variants of E ...

(or subjective) or

oblique Oblique may refer to: * an alternative name for the character usually called a slash (punctuation) ( / ) *Oblique angle, in geometry * Oblique triangle, in geometry * Oblique lattice, in geometry * Oblique leaf base, a characteristic shape of the ...

(or objective) pronouns, depending on context, rather than exclusively oblique pronouns as prepositions do. This rule is broken as often as it is observed. For instance,

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's 1600 play ''

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

'' has an instance of an oblique pronoun following ''than'' where the nominative is also possible: :''A man no mightier than thyself or me...'' Likewise,

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

wrote: :''No man had ever more discernment than him, in finding out the ridiculous.'' In simple comparisons in contemporary English, ''than'' often takes an oblique pronoun, which lexicographers and usage commentators regard as prepositional use and as standard. The

case Case or CASE may refer to: Instances * Instantiation (disambiguation), a realization of a concept, theme, or design * Special case, an instance that differs in a certain way from others of the type Containers * Case (goods), a package of relate ...

of a

pronoun In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (Interlinear gloss, glossed ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the part of speech, parts of speech, but so ...

following ''than'' can be determined by context. For example: * ''You are a better swimmer than she.'' ** The sentence is equivalent to "You are a better swimmer than she is." * ''They like you more than her.'' ** The sentence is equivalent to "They like you more than they like her." ** The sentence "They like you more than she" may instead mean "They like you more than she likes you."

Confusion between ''than'' and ''then''

In writing, ''than'' and '' then'' are often erroneously interchanged. In standard English, ''then'' refers to time or consequence, while ''than'' is used in comparisons.

References

{{reflist English grammar