Grammar Question. Then or Than?

S

Scott Free

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Sep 15, 1999
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Here's the sentence: Your item will ship no later than/then tomorrow.

I originally thought the correct choice was "than" (as did ALMOST everyone I asked.) One person was adamant that the correct choice was "then" because it refered to time. After checking a few grammar websites, I'm beginning to think she was right, although the examples given didn't quite fit the above sentence. I thought I'd ask the experts here. Me not so good.

Scott
 
I'm going to go with "than."

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Oxford American Dictionaries:

than |ðan; ð?n| conjunction & preposition
1 introducing the second element in a comparison : [as prep. ] he was much smaller than his son | [as conj. ] Jack doesn't know any more than I do.
2 used in expressions introducing an exception or contrast : [as prep. ] he claims not to own anything other than his home | [as conj. ] they observe rather than act.
3 [ conj. ] used in expressions indicating one thing happening immediately after another : scarcely was the work completed than it was abandoned.

ORIGIN Old English than(ne), thon(ne), thænne, originally the same word as then.

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No wonder it's confusing, if "than" originally came from the word 'then.'

GeoThorn
 
I agree with the use of "than", the sentence contains an implied comparative in that "no later than tomorrow" could be followed by "or the next day", "or not", etc. If it was a simple declarative statement it would be "Your item will ship tomorow.", no qualifiers.
 
Gahh..

I would choose "then." I was taught then refers to time. However, it's been a couple years since simple (or so they say) grammar was part of my English classes.
 
The correct word to use would be "than" because it is a term used to compare and can answer the question "what", ie: you are comparing shipping tomorrow instead of today or next week. "Then" would be used if it could answer the question "when" as it relates to time.
 
My lovely and talented wife with her Masters degree in Library Science says "than". Case closed. :D

Jack
 
Than. It expresses comparisons.

geothorn has it right. They come from the same origin.

Anybody else have to memorize Chaucer's General Prologue? "Thanne longen folk to gon on pilgrimages"
 
Thinking about it, "than" is correct because of the simple comparison evident in the statement. "No later than _____" implies a comparison between every moment between now and then. In the sentence "tomorrow" is the second element! Your friend is wrong, it is not a question of time but of comparison to decide the preposition.
 
Hi cockroachfarm-

I'd rather have a fun discussion about proper grammar rather than a locked thread! :D Another vote for "than" as the proper choice...

~ Blue Jays ~
 
I usually go with whichever sounds right. In this case its "than" because "then" sounds weird.
 
Scott Ridgeway said:
Here's the sentence: Your item will ship no later than/then tomorrow.
Scott
Click to expand...

As others have said, "no later than tomorrow" is correct; the word "than" indicates comparison.

From http://web.uvic.ca/wguide/Pages/UsThan.html:
Then is an adverb meaning "at that time:"
Click to expand...

Tell your adamant friend that the sentence "Your item will ship no later then tomorrow" would actually translate into "Your item will ship no later at that time tomorrow". I'm no grammar expert (hey, I'm from HI), but I'm pretty sure that's wrong. ;)
 
Correct English useage in that context is 'than'.

I am English, I get get grade 1 GCE English at school and my mother had a very advanced secretarial qualification (one of 12 in the UK) and corrected every piece of bad grammar I spoke, and any incorrect spelling I wrote.

The only correct useage of 'then', would be if you said 'you will receive the knife on Tuesday, or perhaps Wednesday, but certainly no later than then'.

The word 'then' is a current term in time. "I will be here then", "then I went to a bar". It can be referred to as a time in the past or a time in the future, but only if you are talking about that time as current.

It is bad grammar to say "Your item will ship no later then tomorrow", but it would be correct if you used the phrase, "Your item will ship no later at that time tomorrow" instead.
 
Andrew Taylor said:
my mother had a very advanced secretarial qualification (one of 12 in the UK) and corrected every piece of bad grammar I spoke, and any incorrect spelling I wrote.
Click to expand...
Cool, an uber secretary. Sort of like Miss Moneypenny?
 
To convey the information using correct grammar I would phrase it thusly: We will ship your item no later than tomorrow.

When attempting to convey information about upcoming events it is best to avoid using the passive voice as it does not efficiently convey the information about "who" is going to take "what" action "when". When I read "Your package will ship..." I interpret it to mean "I don't really have a clue who is going to take care of this and I'm certainly not responsible, nor will you be able to find out who is responsible, in fact I don't care if the damn thing has to ship itself..." This denial of accountability was neatly phrased by Ronald Reagan in his immortal "Mistakes were made" statement and by Henry Kissinger's admission that mistakes were "quite possibly" made by some individuals that were around during Nixon's admisinstration.

So, unless mistakes are made, it is quite possible that your package will ship iself sometime in the fairly near future.
 
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