than

«than» in Mova's school dictionary: used when you compare two things: «taller than», «more than» — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

conjunction, preposition

meaning for a pupil

1) Than is used when you compare two things: «taller than», «more than». tree →

2) Than also comes after «rather» and «other»: «rather walk than ride», «anyone other than Ben». tree →

3) «No sooner … than» means just after: «No sooner had we left than it rained». tree →

4) (casual) People often say «than me» rather than «than I»: «He's taller than me». tree →

5) (formal) Exams say «in excess of», «exceeding», «less than or equal to», «fewer than» and «other than» in long comparisons. tree →

6) Than can also mean only, as in "no more than five pence". tree →

sense in the lessons

in «more … than», «fewer … than», «older … than», «less than», «bigger than»; in maths it marks a comparison; the signs > and < are read «greater than» and «less than»; in casual talk «more than ever», «better than nothing», «way more than», «heaps more than»; in rough talk «you're dumber than a box of rocks» (a put-down); in the exam voice «exceeds by», «is in excess of», «is not less than» (≥), «is not more than» (≤)

examples

• How many more books does Tom have than Ben? tree →
• Max has 2 fewer books than Lily. tree →
• Anna is 3 years older than Tom. tree →
• 9 is greater than 6, so we write 9 > 6. tree →
• A whale is bigger than an elephant. tree →
• I would rather read than watch TV. tree →
• Nobody other than Mia knew the answer. tree →
• He's got way more cards than me, like 10 more. tree →
• Better than nothing, I s'pose. tree →
• You're slower than a snail, hurry up! tree →
• By how many does 23 exceed 15? tree →
• The number of pupils shall be not less than 20 and not more than 30. tree →

note

«than» marks a comparison. «How many more A than B» asks for a difference: subtract, even though it says «more». «A has D more than B» gives A = B + D. «A exceeds B by D» is the same as A = B + D. «not less than 20» means 20 or more. Trap: do not mix up «than» (comparing) and «then» (next, after that).

In the corpora

• Employers often glance at a CV for less than a minute, so grown-ups fuss over every word.
• Borrowing always has a price called interest, so the total paid back is more than the price tag.
• Debt becomes a problem when the repayments are more than the family can afford.
• Saving up is slower than borrowing but cheaper, because no interest is paid.
• Big building jobs often take longer and cost more than planned.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «than» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.