Reply
Mon 9 Jul, 2012 11:23 pm
My Girlfriend and I are having one of our petty fights that has rolled into something more. Without giving away our opinions, ill try and recreate the IM conversation that started it-
P1- I can bring him up, you cant.
p2- Thats not fair.
p1- Why not?
p2- If you can than I can.
p1- *then
----
As you can see, the bold section is what we're talking about.
She and I both understand how to use Than and Then, but the disagreement is how to use them in the context of this statement. Is it Than, because we're comparing one person's actions to another's ? or is it Then, because if one person does it so will the other?
We've gotten multiple opinions on this and we're really looking for someone who has studied english to give us a final answer with an explanation. Thank you.
@Jtegg007,
Give the child up for adoption.
ms. toad has weighed in with the Solomonic answer.
THEN
In formal (and computer) logic, it's known as an "If...then" statement. If x can happen, then y can happen. If I am capable of caring for the child, then you are capable too. It's not a comparison, it's a consequence.
@Miss L Toad,
HAHA. Wow... Just for the record, we were talking about speaking about a guy we know.
@Jtegg007,
You're raising some guy? He should take care of himself. If he did THEN you wouldn't have this problem.
@ehBeth,
Manifestly not.
I can't even understand why there is any question. I also don't get
talking about speaking about
To clarify what MontereyJack said:
Than refers to comparison.
Then refers to consequence.
In your instance, "then" is the proper word.
@dlowan,
dlowan wrote:
Manifestly not.
I can't even understand why there is any question. I also don't get talking about speaking about
She's talking about talking about a guy with her friend, but she didn't want to sound redundant.
The first person said that she can bring up this one particular guy in conversation, but the second person cannot.
@Jtegg007,
My bad Jtegg sry hon, may I bring you up as p2 and if so then is it ok if I say, "refer"?
If I can then I'll confirm that MontereyJack has your answer.
Say hiya & higher to your girlfriend for me.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace