今日视点：then是什么意思?Then和than有什么区别?

then是什么意思（Then和than的区别）

There are tons of words in the English language that are similar but not the same and I"ve been creating a whole lot of lessons about them lately, particularly some of the really confusing ones.

Now you can check out all of the ones I"ve already made in that playlist right up there but today we"re going to focus on two words that are often confused and misused, "then" and "than".

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英语中有很多单词非常相似，但是并不完全相同，我最近出过很多相关的课程，尤其是那些非常令人困惑的单词。

大家可以看一下播放列表中我已经发布的课程，就在这里，但是今天呢我们要侧重于两个经常弄混，经常错用的单词，那就是‘then’和‘than’。

Now I"m Emma from mmmEnglish and if these two words confuse you, then this lesson is for you and even if you think that you know what they mean and how to use them correctly, it"s worth just sticking around to check.

I"ll explain how they"re used in English, how they"re pronounced, and of course we"ll practise with a little quiz at the end to make sure that everything you learned during the lesson has stuck.

我是Emma，欢迎来到Emma的美味英语，如果这两个单词让你困惑的话，那这节课程就是为你量身定做的，即使你觉得你很清楚这两个单词是什么意思，也知道如何正确使用，检查一下对不对还是很有意义的。

我会解释它们在英语中是如何使用的，它们是如何发音的，当然了，我们会在结尾的时候做几个小练习，来确保大家已经巩固了本节课程所学到的知识。

And remember that all of my lessons have subtitles or captions and you can turn them on by clicking that settings button just down there.

And so many of my students, my amazing students who are generous enough to share some of their time for all of you, they have been writing subtitles in their own native languages so that more of the people from their country can watch and learn and experience the lessons on the mmmEnglish Channel so if you"ve got time and you"re up for the challenge to write some of the captions in your own native language, I would absolutely appreciate it.

记住我的课程呢都是有字幕的，大家可以通过点击下面的设置按钮打开字幕。

我的很多学生，他们都超级赞，而且非常慷慨大方，不吝于分享他们的时间，他们用自己的母语写了字幕，这样他们国家更多的人就可以观看学习，并且体验美味英语频道的课程，所以如果大家有时间并且准备好迎接挑战，将字幕翻译成自己的母语的话，那我会非常感激大家的。

And look, I know you"ve been watching my lessons for a little while now so if you haven"t subscribed already, I think it"s time to do it. . . . . . .

看呀，我知道你看我的课程已经看了一段时间了，所以如果你还没有订阅的话，我觉得是时候动手了。

To start this lesson, I want to make something really clear.

Than and then are not the same words even though they look similar and they sound quite similar, they have different meanings and uses.

在本节课程开始的时候，我想明确几件事情。

Than和then是两个不同的单词，即使它们看起来很相近，听起来也很相似，但它们的意思和使用方式都完全不同。

And I have to admit that these two words had me fooled for a long time at school.

Through school, I was forever using the wrong word and I was getting marked incorrect by my teachers all the time. It took years for me to remember.

我得承认这两个单词在我上学的时候都令我十分头疼。

在上学的时候，我一直用的都不对，我的老师总是会会给我标出错误。我花了很多年才记住。

And part of the problem is that these words sound quite similar. They both use the voiced /th/ sound.

And we can hear a little difference in the vowel sound when these words are stressed in a sentence and sometimes they are /ðan/.

部分问题就在于这两个单词听起来太相似了。它们都有浊音th。

当这两个单词在句子中重读的时候，我们能听到元音有所不同，有时候是/ðan/。

The /a/ vowel sound, /ðan/. And /ðɛn/.

元音/a/，/ðan/.然后是/ðɛn/。

The /ɛ/ vowel sound, /ðɛn/.

But actually, most of the time, these words are unstressed and then they sound really similar because both of those vowels sounds reduce down to the schwa sound.

元音/ɛ/ ，/ðɛn/。

但是其实呢，大多数情况下，这两个单词都是非重读的，所以它们听起来非常像，因为这两个元音都变成了中元音。

So it sounds like then, then. Then we can"t hear any difference at all.

所以听起来就像是then一样。然后我们就听不到任何区别了。

Now the closest that I ever came to a rule for this was than with an A is used for comparisons and then with an E is used for time.

It helped me a little in the end so if you find it helpful to try and remember that rule, especially to use those words correctly in sentences, then go ahead.

我能想到的最近的规则就是如果是A的话，就是用来比较的，如果是E的话，就是用来表示时间的。这后来对我有所帮助，所以如果你觉得有用的话，可以试着记一下这条规则，如果是在句子中正确使用这两个单词，然后就继续吧。

Now let"s go a little deeper and I think we"ll start with than because there"s only one basic definition and use for than. So than is a conjunction and we use it to make comparisons.

现在让我们再深入一点，我觉得我们应该从than开始，因为than只有一个基本的定义和用法。Than是一个连词，我们用它来表示比较。

So when we"re highlighting the difference between two separate things. I"m taller than my sister.

当我们强调两个不同事物之间的差别的时候。我比我的妹妹高。

Your phone gets a better signal than mine.

Do you think that pasta is more filling than salad?

你的手机信号比我好。

你觉得意面比沙拉更饱腹吗？

Notice that than is usually used with an adjective.

It"s used to say that something is more or less than something else, taller than, better than, more filling than.

注意than通常都和形容词一起使用。

通常说某个东西比另外一个东西多或者是少，更高，更好，更饱腹。

Right? Now another common comparison phrase also uses than and that"s rather than.

对吧？另外一个常见的也用than来表示比较的短语时rather than。

I"d rather ride than walk, or I"d rather not go than wear that dress.

Rather is just another type of comparison.

相比于走路，我更愿意骑自行车，或者是我宁愿不去也不要穿那条裙子。

Rather是另外一种类型的比较。

It"s like saying I prefer to do one thing more than the other. And with rather, you"ll often see than.

就像是相对于另外一件事，我更想做这件。一般than会和rather同时出现。

Now finally, you"ll also hear than used in quite a few fixed expressions and common phrases. I guess it"s better late than never.

最后呢，你还会在一些固定表达和常见的短语中听到than。我觉得晚做总比不做好。

I"d like to go home sooner rather than later. Finding our way is easier said than done!

我恨不得马上回家。寻找我们的道路说起来比做起来难多了。

So did you hear in all of those fixed expressions how than was pronounced? It was reduced, it was short and low in pitch. It"s an unstressed word, than, than, than. Right?

So I want you to practise them out loud with me, better late than never, sooner rather than later, easier said than done.

你在这些固定表达中听到than了吗？是怎么发音的呢？它的发音被削弱了，发音很短，语调很低。这是个非重读单词，than，than，than。对吧？