Comparatives and Superlatives Made Simple for the ACT®

Do you get then and than confused? You're not alone. The ACT® English Test asks questions about this distintion all the time. The logic behind this concept is part of a larger series of figuring out the number of things each group refers to. Be sure to check out the series guide above to master this topic.

Consider this example:

In my opinion, football is the better sport. But basketball is the best sport.

In the second sentence, I'm comparing basketball to every sport. Including football and basketball, as long as there is at least one more sport in existence, then we should use best. So that means we should say basketball is the best sport.

This gets a little more complicated.

Then vs Than

Superlatives are used to compare 3 or more things. When you're comparing two things, you use a comparative: than. You likely already know this.

The ACT® asks if you know the difference between then and than. One has an 'e', and one has an 'a'. Then is only ever used to refer to time. It has an "e" in it, so that makes sense!

I want to go to the store, then to the bank, then home.

Than compares. That is the only thing than does. It never refers to time.

I like apples more than oranges.

Sometimes the entire question on the English section will be testing you to see if you can determine whether to use then or than based on the context. If you can do that, great.

So you can say apples are better than oranges. But when you are referencing 3 or more things in the same comparison, you should use best.

You might have to be careful with how you construct sentences. By and large, the ACT® will make this question type easy for you, provided you can make the distinction between comparison of 2 and 3 or more.