then/ than

[Nikolai]

I almost read everywhere something like "They do it better then America" instead of "They do it better than America".
First I thought that they do it wrong, but I read this very often and even native speakers write it. Now I'm confused.


Please correct my English.

[Keswick (Contributor)]

It's wrong. Easy as that.

THEN = DANN
THAN = ALS
They do it better THAN America = Sie machen es besser ALS Amerika.
They do it better THEN America = Sie machen es besser DANN Amerika.

It is wrong, but this mistake unfortunately is as common as mixing up their, they're and there.

[Nikolai]

And why are even some native speakers writing then instead of than?
Is it like "seit" and "seid" in German, because Germans often write seit instead of seid?

[Keswick (Contributor)]

Because even native speakers make mistakes..
And yes, it is comparable to seid vs seit .. even German native speakers make this mistake.

I think it is important to remember that everyone makes mistakes, even native speakers.