than

than /ðən; strong ðæn/ S1 W1 conjunction , preposition

1 COMPAREused when comparing two things, people, situations etc 比〔用于两个事物的比较，引出第二个事物〕

Natalie was prettier than her sister.

纳塔莉比她姐姐漂亮。

You need that money more than I do.

你比我更需要那笔钱。

There were more people there than I expected.

那里的人比我预想的要多。

If it costs more than $60, I won’t buy it.

如果价格超过60美元，我就不买了。

She had woken even earlier than usual.

她甚至比平时醒得更早。

Divorce is more common than it was a generation ago.

现在离婚比上一代人常见了。

2 other than except for a particular person or thing 除…之外

We never go to church other than for funerals and weddings.

除了参加葬礼和婚礼，我们从不去教堂。

We know he lived in Fleet Road, but other than that we don’t know much about him.

我们只知道他住在舰队路，除此之外，我们对他了解不多。

Examples from the Corpus

other than• There was no reason for this other than a certain unwillingness to emerge from our bond trading shell.• It was the greatest honor, other than getting accepted in heaven.• For brain functions other than language, most of what we know comes from studies of the brains of other animals.• That haunted offspring turns out to be none other than large Lawrence, in this raucous spoof of trash television.• No known clockmaker, other than self-taught Harrison himself, lived or worked anywhere around north Lincolnshire in the early eighteenth century.• He insists the designs have no grand meaning, other than that they appealed to his eye.• Its components are none other than the economic, political, military, royal, and bureaucratic branches of the social order.• You can also create mailboxes other than the simple in and out trays and mark them in however you want.

3 would rather/would sooner ... than used to say that you prefer one thing to another 宁愿…而不愿…

I’d rather drive than go by train.

我宁愿开车去而不愿坐火车。

She said she’d rather die than live in the city.

她说她宁愿死也不住在城里。

4 no sooner/hardly had ... than used to say that one thing happens immediately after another thing 一…就…

No sooner had I got into the house than the phone rang.

我刚进屋，电话铃就响了。

Hardly had they reached Edinburgh than they were ordered to return to London.

他们刚抵达爱丁堡就接到回伦敦的命令。

Examples from the Corpus

no sooner/hardly had ... than• But no sooner had Miriam gone than Harry suddenly returned looking more cheerful than one might have expected.• Alas, no sooner had he started than he realised it was no longer what he wanted.• No sooner had he gone than one of the cameramen approached.• No sooner had it begun than the rain seemed to end.

Examples from the Corpus

than• You carry it - you're stronger than I am.• It's a nice car, but it costs more than we want to pay.

Origin than

Old English thanne, thænne

than conjunction

Chinese

Corpus