Then vs. Than

Today we will learn the difference between the words "Then" and "Than". The easiest way to remember the two is probably this: "Then" deals with time or order while "than" deals with preference or comparison.

Ex: I am going to brush my teeth THEN shower.

Ex: I would rather brush my teeth before I shower THAN after.

Now, you try. See if you can identify the problem with this meme (this one may seem a bit tricky since we're dealing with time and comparison, so think carefully):

Did you find it?

In this meme, "then" is incorrect because despite the thought of running away occurring more often now as opposed to then (time), we need to look for the comparison, which is now, as an adult rather *than* "when I was a kid."

To make it even easier, completely eliminate "as an adult" from this meme and read it simply as, "...more often now than when I was a kid." Sounds good, amirite? Here we are comparing the time between childhood and adulthood -  now, rather than before.

Now, still eliminating "as an adult" from the meme, read it again using "then" instead of "than":

"...more often now then when I was as a kid."

Now that just doesn't make any sense, does it? It sounds as if you are saying, "...more often now, then when I was a kid," as if after you think about it as an adult, you'll think about it as a kid - you are implying you're going to magically time travel back to when you were a kid to think about running away. And, even if you could do that you'd do it so you could...wait for it...COMPARE the amount of time you now spend on thinking about running away to the time you spent thinking about running away when you were a kid.

Final answer: