then
adverb · adjective · noun
Simple meaning
At that time.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
thehnIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈðɛn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adverb
temporal location
At that time.
temporal location
Subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
temporal locationsequence
At the same time; on the other hand.
temporal location
Soon afterward.
sequence
Next in order of place.
In addition; also; besides.
adjective
Being so at that time.
noun
That time.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (temporal location) At that time.
Used this way, then is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use then
- “If he didn't take it, then who did?”adverb
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.