Why do people write “then” when “than” is what they meant?

Question

Example: Jimmy likes Jane better then he likes Brenda.
Should be - Jimmy likes Jane better than he likes Brenda.

psiren are you sure I used “meant” incorrectly?
Diane “than” and “then” sound nothing alike.

Soleil Noir I haven’t a clue as to what you are saying.

Psiren I think you maybe right. I was thinking past tense as in they have already written the word in question, but maybe it should be present.

Psiren I’m not criticizing anyone, just asking a question.

Answer 1

They write that because they are stupid and forgot English grammar.

Answer 2

typos possibly.
why did you write 'meant' when you meant 'mean'?

additional:
funny how the people getting so bothered about this make mistakes themselves.
earl d: just go over your answer and see if you can spot the c0ck ups. i saw 2, maybe there are more. i'm not saying this to be pedantic, i just don't get why people can't tell the difference between a typo and bad spelling.
i also can't see why spelling mistakes are held up as some indicator of intelligence. are we saying that all dyslexic people are thick? thought not. unless a message is so badly spelt that you can't read it, why bother picking it apart? i wouldn't have mentioned your message in any other context because it doesn't matter, it's clear and it makes sense so why get hung up on a couple of mistakes? you just happened to walk right into this one and become an example of what you're criticising

injam: answer to your additional - i'm not 100%, i'm about 99%. you're mixing up your tenses. if i'm wrong i stand corrected. i stand by my point though which is: anyone can make a mistake or hit the wrong key. i often type 'form' instead of 'from'. this doesn't mean i can't spell 'from' it means my typing isn't accurate.
and of course 'then' and 'than' sound alike.
wow, this is getting long. if you don't understand what soleil noir is saying maybe you shouldn't be criticising anyone's use of language. it makes perfect sense.

additonal additional: ok, i take that bit back, your question wasn't necessarily a criticism, i read it that way, it did sound like one to me but perhaps it wasn't meant as one and the answers following it coloured my reading of it.

Answer 3

Confusing homophones (1 : one of two or more words pronounced alike but different in meaning or derivation or spelling (as the words to, too, and two)
2 : a character or group of characters pronounced the same as another character or group ) is a very common error in writing..

Words like

There, They're and Their
Hare, Hair
Then, Than
See, Sea
Sell, Cell
Knight, Night

There are roughly 105 such homophone groupings in the English language.. (I say roughly as 105 was the number I remember from 4th grade when I learned about homophones... Considering that was about 30 years ago there may be more now as language is always evolving..)

Answer 4

This drives me crazy! I guess they do it for the same reasons that they confuse "your" and "you're" and "are" and "our" and "whose" and "who's" and "their" and "there" and "they're". They didn't pay enough attention in elementary school grammar class. I also hate when people pluralize things using apostrophes. Apostrophes are to show possession, people! The one exception is the word "its." Such as, "The dog is thirsty, its water bowl needs to be refilled." There is no apostrophe to show ownership when something belongs to "it." I don't know why. I don't make the rules, I just follow them. What saddens me is that I see college graduates doing this. I see it at hospitals and doctors' offices. If you have no understanding of the basics of our language, how am I going to trust you to cut me open or diagnose me? Okay, I'm done ranting. Let this be an English lesson to all of you.

Answer 5

Because America has a crisis in education and can't realize it.

I know a high school graduate girl now in the Navy who that Denmark was a city

Howard Stern regularly gets girls to say the Capital of New York is New Jersey and they are SINCERE

And this is an epidemic in America

This is why Japanese families won't put there kids in American Primary and Secondary schools

We have the best college system in the world and the worst primary education system in the world.

Answer 6

I don't get that, either. They use "your" and "you're" incorrectly, too.

Last night someone used "common" when he meant "come on."

It's sad. Some people don't know how to use words correctly. They just don't think any of it matters.
I teach this stuff in 3rd grade.

I guess it's no biggie, though. People get all mad if you say anything about it.
Being correct isn't as important as it used to be, I am afraid.
oh, well.....

Answer 7

The mistakes of others do not often offend me, I am insulted by my own mistakes. Finding mistakes within my own text offends me because it happens most often, when I am most focused on my meaning being understood. Keyboards do not serve me well I find when writing by hand I make far less mistakes.

Answer 8

For the same reason they write "your" when they mean "you're", "there" for "their" or "they're", "to" for "too", "loose" for "lose", "waist" for "waste", and "breath" for "breathe", which are misused even more! People also don't seem to understand that apostrophes are NOT used for plurals and that "of" is NOT a contraction for "have." Come on, people. Unless you're learning-challenged or from another country, you should know better THAN that. This is simple grade-school stuff.

Answer 9

Perhaps he first liked Jane better; and later, he changed his mind and liked Brenda better....

Answer 10

Because they can't tell the difference between the two.

Answer 11

They didn't pay attention in grammar class. And as a writer, it irks me.