^ That's a spelling issue. Big3 is wondering where people pronounce the two words the same.
In most places I've lived or visited, it's hard to notice a significant difference in pronunciation between then and than, because they're said quickly and without much emphasis. I assume that because of this, it would be likely that many people don't instinctively differentiate between the two words when writing, but I guess it's also possible that people have the meanings swapped or even don't know there is a difference at all.
I can understand when you simply develop a habit of writing a word a certain way. I've always done well at spelling and English in general, but there were some words I had learned incorrectly and never questioned. For instance, I used to spell the word "originally" as "origionally" because I used to say it with a "gion" sound instead of a "gin". I would spell it incorrectly for years until spell check became prevalent and I noticed.
I guess in the case of then/than, it might help people to remember that "than" is a comparative word and "then" is a resultant word and a timescale word. Both are completely different from one another.
|