than

CEFRA1

/ðæn/

conjunction · adverb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    conjunction

    Used when comparing two people or things.

  2. 02

    conjunction

    Extra detail

    Because; for.

Examples

  • The pain was almost more than he could bear.

  • Their communication may be much more complex than we thought.

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
3

Deep Dive

conjunction

Extra meanings

  1. Introduces a comparison, and 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.

  2. Used in comparisons, to introduce the basis of comparison.

adverb

Extra meaning

  1. At that time; then.

More examples

In context

  • You're in better shape than I am.

  • The artist worried more than was necessary: there were a lot of people at the exhibition, more than came last year.

  • Profits were higher than forecast.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

He earns more money every month at work blank his brother does.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

conjunction

From Middle English than, thanne (“than; then”), from Old English þanne, a variant of þonne (“then; when; than”), from Proto-West Germanic *þannē, an alteration of *þan (“then; than”), from Proto-Germanic *þan (“then; than”), from earlier *þam, from Proto-Indo-European *tóm, accusative masculine of *só (“that”, demonstrative pronoun). Cognate with Dutch dan (“then; than”), German denn (“for; so”), German dann (“then”). Doublet of then.