喜樂美語

You can picture 'then' as a finger pointing at one spot on a timeline — 'at that point'. From that single 'at that moment' everything spreads: a moment further along the line ('and then...'), a moment of consequence ('if... then...'), and even non-time uses where 'after that, given that' becomes a logical 'so'. 'Then' and 'than' share the same old root meaning 'at that' — comparison is just two points set side by side.

可以把 then 想成一根手指，指著時間線上的某一個點——「在那個時候」。所有用法都是從這一個「在那一刻」散出去的：往線上更後面挪一點，就是「然後、接著」；指向結果那一刻，就是「那麼、那就」；連那些不講時間的用法，也是把「在那之後、既然如此」推成邏輯上的「那麼」。它跟 than 同源，本義都是「在那」——比較其實就是把兩個點並排放在一起。

From the word’s history

Old English 'thanne/thonne', from the same demonstrative root as 'that' and 'the'; it meant 'at that (time)'. 'Then' and 'than' were originally the same word, which is why comparison and time sit so close.

源自古英文 thanne/thonne，與 that、the 同一個指示代詞的字根，本義是「在那（時）」。then 和 than 本來是同一個字，這也說明了為什麼「比較」和「時間」在這個字裡靠得這麼近。

Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com), 'then'

登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。

容易混在一起的字在訂閱裡。容易混在一起的字需要訂閱帳號。

意思相近

at that timenextin that caseokayat that momentafter thatas a resultalrightformerafterwardssowell+6

原始詞典資料12 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

Thenname

  • 1

    A surname.

thenadv/ðɛn/

  • 1

    temporal-locationtimeAt that time.

    • He was happy then.
    • And the Canaanite was then in the land.
  • 2

    temporal-locationtimeSoon afterward.

    • He fixed it, then left.
    • Turn left, then right, then right again, then keep going until you reach the service station.
  • 3

    Next in order of place.

    • There are three green ones, then a blue one.
    • Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, with something of the stately pose which Richter has given his Queen Louise on the stairway, and the light of the reflector fell full upon her.
  • 4

    In addition; also; besides.

    • Another legend says that now and again in the world's history a monarch appears who conquers and rules every nation under the sun. […] Then many of the Siamese believe that the animal is inhabited by the soul of some great man of the past […]
  • 5

    In that case.

    • If it’s locked, then we’ll need the key.
    • Is it 12 o’clock already? Then it’s time for me to leave.
  • 6

    At the same time; on the other hand.

    • That’s a nice shirt, but then, so is the other one.
    • The forms inheritress and inheritrix are used only in literature, and then but rarely.
  • 7

    dialectalUsed to contradict an assertion.

    • ‘She says Indian elephants are tidgy little things.’ ‘They're not then.’ Emma was getting heated. ‘They're –’ ‘Emma!’ said Jenny sharply. The child subsided.

thenadj/ðɛn/

  • 1

    Being so at that time.

    • He had met his then girlfriend when he had just started university. The relationship ended unhappily when the girlfriend complained that he never wanted to go out.
    • It all started when Nick Farmer bought George R. R. Martin a drink, but the plot really thickened when the linguist met Martin’s then-assistant Ty Franck.

thennoun/ðɛn/

  • 1

    That time.

    • It will be finished before then.

這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：

摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。