Originally posted by Randi
The more english I read and write, the more I realize how little I know. However, I have noticed many Americans are writing than when others would use then.
I mostly see the opposite, people using then when they should use than. "Harder then I thought" should be "Harder than I thought." "Five is more then three" should be "Five is more than three." "Then" usually is used to describe a sequence of events, meaning next or in addition: "I went to the store, then I went to the bank." "The day was hot, then it was rainy." Than is a conjunction, then is an adverb or adjective.

I really notice all those little grammatical particulars too, because I've edited (for the local paper), written, and transcribed for most of my working days. I think something is wrong when many people whose first language is not English speak and write it better than many native English speakers.