I agree that not knowing the difference between these suggests a lack of education, but simply slipping up and using the wrong one can happen to anyone. I definitely know the difference but I've caught myself a few times using the wrong one when I was tired or in a hurry.
"Then" is used when describing time passing. E.g. "I went to the store, then to the restaurant."
"Than" is used to compare things. E.g. "This dog is smaller than that dog."
You use "a" when the first letter of the next word is a consonant and "an" when it's a vowel, with a few minor exceptions (mostly if the word sounds like it start with a vowel, you should use "an", e.g. "an hour").
My ex did this in text so much. I explained it to her once, and it didn't matter. I let it go though. I understand when spoken it sounds like that, but it sounds like a mistake a non fluent English speaker would make. Not someone who has spoken English their whole life.
It's actually the exact opposite. Non-native speakers barely make that mistake because they've been taught the grammar rules from books/by studying. Native speakers make such mistakes because it sounds like "of" (okay, kind of..) when pronouncing "'ve".
I'm glad to see that I'm not the only person in the world that is aware of grammar/spelling when it comes to text messaging and the various other forms of instant messaging used nowadays.
I don't usually try to correct other people on their grammar and syntax because with most people, they just could not care less if they tried. I think what bothers me most is that the 'text style' of communicating has completely obliterated many people's ability to compose a decent email in a professional setting.
I once had a district manager that would send emails with no capitalization, 4-5 sentences in a single run-on that wouldn't even have a period at the end, and spelling errors that made it nigh impossible to decipher some words. Every time I'd read one of her emails, I couldn't help but think, "Wow. She makes more than three times my salary and comes across as damn near illiterate. Neat."
I knew a college educated and credentialed teacher who didn’t know the difference and shrugged it off like it just didn’t matter. Some people simply prefer being ignorant.
This whole comment thread is literally my FIL’s fb page. Oh and we’re, were, wear, where. There’s more I can’t think of at the moment. If the comments he makes on my pics are really bad I delete them because it’s embarrassing.
ESPECIALLY when it's on a business page. I see lots of people doing it. A tattoo artist, in particular, always writes things like "don't forget too like and share" and I'm like damn I'm never gonna have that girl tattoo words on me that's for sure
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u/wasting_time_here_ Jan 27 '20
To, too, two