Just another grammar question: Is this conversation correct? A: For a while I thought Jeff and Dean are the same person. But they are not the same then. B: Yes, they are. They are two different boys.
No The answer "yes they are" contradicts the question of "but they are not the same then " - essentially person B would only say yes they are if they were the same for this to work it should be "no they're not" A: For a while I thought Jeff and Dean are the same person. But they are not the same then. B: No they're not. They are two different boys or A: For a while I thought Jeff and Dean are the same person. But they are not the same then. B: They are two different boys or A: For a while I thought Jeff and Dean are the same person. But they are not the same then. B: Indeed they're not. They are two different boys or A: For a while I thought Jeff and Dean are the same person. But they are not the same then. B: Yes, They are two different boys
Oh Sorry, I am stupid. Is this correct: A: For a while I thought Jeff and Dean are the same person. But they are not the same then. B: No, they aren't. They are two different boys. AND A: For a while I thought Jeff and Dean are the same person. But they are not the same then. B:Yes, they are. Dean and Jeff are the same person.
I'm only changing one, because my changes are the same for both. There's a tense issue, IMO. I would change it to A: For a while I thought Jeff and Dean were the same person. But they are not the same then. B: No, they aren't. They are two different boys. I would also be inclined to change some punctuation. A: For a while I thought Jeff and Dean were the same person. But they are not the same, then? B: No, they aren't. They are two different boys. And if I were to make it sound more natural for me: A: For a while, I thought Jeff and Dean were the same person. They're not the same? B: No, they aren't. They're two different boys.
Thank you, but that would sound like A is unsure. I want to express that A and B are sure that Jeff and Dean are different boys. Would that work? A: ...Oh yeah, I just found out they are two different boys. For a while I thought Jeff and Dean were the same person. But they are not the same then. B: No, they aren't. They are two different boys.
In that case, I'd lose the "then". For me, the "then" at the end of that sentence strongly suggests a question. And the response has the air of an answer. If I wanted to eliminate that, I'd rewrite to: A: For a while, I thought Jeff and Dean were the same person. But they're not. B: Right. They're two different boys. And, adding the other one: A: For a while, I thought Jeff and Dean were the same person. But they're not. B: Yes, they are. Dean and Jeff are the same person.
Well then, that's it then. I'm not entirely sure that I agree with @ChickenFreak. I guess I'll have to say something then. Here I go then. In all of the cases above then is used to emphasize and inference being drawn or (in the last case, and rather clumsily) to end a conversation. In none of these situations is it a question. I do agree with Chicken's observations about tense though. That's all then.
I agree with @ChickenFreak on this All your examples can come across denoting suggestion or supposition, not confidence or certain declaration. I reread it trying to apply your claim, and I had to impose a tone that was not immediately apparent. Even so, the reaction to drawing a conclusion by inference does not come as an independent & sturdy personal knowledge. It's reactionary, and still feels dependent on either what came before that it is a response to or what comes after that responds to it It is either dependent on previous assertions or subsequent reassurance or affirmation. And in the OP's example, it comes off feeling like a question or attempt at reassurance and the OP said that is not what they are going for
Hi @NoGoodNobu, I guess, then, that it's a question of horses for courses... maybe it depends on where you're from? I was basically quoting the OED. [You may shoot me now] Catch you later then.
Nope this is rubbish you can't use "than" like that Than is a conjunction used in making comparissons He is taller than I am My car is nicer than your car like that to use it in your sentence would be completely wrong they are not the same then is correct
I think what chicken and I are both saying is that Peper shaker is wrong , you should end with then, not than
Yeah, I know, I'm just a bit irritated why Chicken wrote that she "missed" the change, because it was her first answer after it was changed?
That just means when ChickenFreak initially saw that Peper Shaker's post, she hadn't noticed that Peper Shaker had wrongly altered your sentence and gave you incorrect advice ChickenFreak replied to Peper Shaker when she had caught on to the discrepancy It has no bearing on you or your writing She just realized that Peper Shaker had incorrectly "changed" your sentence with the wrong word by their inaccurate "correction"
Thank you. But don't you say "missed something" only when you first didn't saw it but still answered? Like this: A posts with error B answers without seeing the error B is seeing the error and answers again I hope you know what I mean. And last question: Why do you say "their"?
ChickenFreak missed that Peper Shaker had said something wrong initially. It doesn't necessitate that she had responded or done anything before she noticed—it simply means she didn't see it when she read it the first time I used "their" incorrectly, but how I commonly do it I don't know Peper Shaker's gender, and so I don't know if I ought to use "he" or "she" The plural "they" and "their" is gender neutral, so it's my go-to when I don't know specific gender of a person However, it is strictly speaking improper I ought to use "he or she" and "his or her" or the old school way of simply using the male terms "he" & "his" for an unknown gender Sorry for the confusion
I'm 100% with ChickenFreak in everything she's said on this page. I don't see the point of the "then" if it's not asking for confirmation.
Like I said earlier in this thread, it must be a regional thing. In the UK it's common as muck to use then to emphasize that you've reached a decision and/or to finish a conversation – like a verbal full stop (period).
