RE: "and then," or simply "then"?

[Odile Sullivan-Tarazi <odile -at- mindspring -dot- com>]

Tammy,

It is true that language is constantly changing and adapting, but 
this is more often the case when it comes to words and expressions. 
Punctuation tends to be more stable, as do parts of speech and verb 
forms.  Do you not wince when someone says "I should have went"?

There may be other reasons why you're reluctant either to insert an 
"and" or to change the comma to a semicolon in the construction that 
you cite.

Would you also consider the constructions that follow to be 
punctuated correctly?

    He went to the park, then he went home.

    I graduated from college, then I got a job.

    First you design your application, then you develop it.

    First you separate the eggs, then you beat the whites.

    She looked all over town, then she found me.

    The king died, then the queen died.

    The music ended, then we kissed.

    I had forgotten all about that day, then I saw her.

    On the first day, we toured Milan, then it was off to Florence.

If not, then perhaps it is context in the original sentence -- and 
the frequency with which the comma is omitted in such constructions 
-- that is influencing your response.

And what about the following passages?  Would you consider the 
punctuation before the "then" in each case correct?

_____
He pressed the button again, then he began pacing around the 
elevator, while she just stared downward, shifting her weight from 
one foot to the other.

Each person on your team will learn one piece of the puzzle, then you 
will come together to get a better understanding of the topic.

"Begin at the beginning," the King said, very gravely, "and go on 
till you come to the end, then stop."

By using the wizard to grant to the test-all role, you can postpone 
defining explicit grants to program resources until you are ready to 
refine the access policy of your application, then, as application 
development progresses and the content of the application becomes 
well-established, you can replace grants to the test-all role with 
the production application roles and explicit permission grants.

As soon as a story is well known-and such is the case with the most 
traditional and popular narratives as well as with the national 
chronicles of the founding events of a given community-retelling 
takes the place of telling, then following the story is less 
important than apprehending the well-known end as implied in the 
beginning and the well-known episodes as leading to this end.
_____


If not, then perhaps it is length also that is misleading you. 
(Though, granted, length can sometimes play a role in punctuation, as 
when, in modern punctuation, we tend not to use a comma between two 
short and closely related independent clauses.)

The word "then" is an adverb, not a conjunction.  To test this, try 
moving it around in the sentence.  Adverbs are mobile; conjunctions 
are not.

In the sentence that you cite, the "then" can occupy one of three 
different positions --

    Then click the display to add new locations.

    Click the display, then, to add new locations.  [note potential 
shift in meaning]

    Click the display to add new locations then.

I'm not saying that each of these sentences is precisely the same, or 
that each is precisely as good in a given context.  All I'm saying is 
that the language itself permits that word to move around within a 
clause.

Conjunctions, by contrast, cannot move.  They have a fixed position 
at the beginning of a clause, whether they are coordinating (and, 
but, or/nor, for, yet, so) or subordinating (after, although, as, 
because, before, if, since, while -- to name a few).

Try it.  In the elevator passage from above, perhaps --

    He pressed the button again.  Then he began pacing around the 
elevator, while . . .

    He pressed the button again.  He then began pacing around the 
elevator, while . . .

    He pressed the button again.  He began pacing around the elevator 
then, while . . .

But notice that you cannot shift the "while" that begins the next clause --

    while she just stared downward  . . .

    * she while just stared downward  . . .

    * she just stared downward while . . .

Nor, if it were a coordinating conjunction, rather than a "then," 
that had begun the second sentence, could you shift it --

    He pressed the button again.  And he began pacing around the 
elevator, while . . .

    * He pressed the button again.  He and began pacing around the 
elevator, while . . .

    * He pressed the button again.  He began pacing around the 
elevator and, while . . .

The coordinating conjunction is always positioned at the beginning of 
an independent clause.  The subordinating conjunction always begins a 
dependent clause.  The conjunctive adverb can appear at the beginning 
of a sentence, preceding the thought; or it can skip about and land 
in different places within the sentence, interrupting the thought in 
progress.

Thinking about this permissible change in position can help you to 
better understand the nature of "then" and its relationship to the 
other words in the sentence.

Perhaps you thought this construction was punctuated correctly --

    He went to the park, then he went home.

But when the "then" shifts?  Is the punctuation still okay?

    He went to the park, he then went home.

    He went to the park, he went home then.

Granted, that second example doesn't make a good deal of sense -- the 
"then" is now too far away to serve as a good connector of ideas -- 
but the principle remains the same: in each of these three examples, 
the last four words form a complete sentence, independent 
(grammatically) from the first.

Considering other conjunctive adverbs can also help you to sort this 
matter out.  You are probably less likely, for instance, to think 
that the punctuation of these constructions is correct --

    He went to the park, after that he went home.
    He went to the park, afterward he went home.
    He went to the park, also he went home.
    He went to the park, meanwhile she went home.
    He went to the park, next he went home.
    He went to the park, presently he went home.
    He went to the park, subsequently he went home.
    He went to the park, thereafter he went home.

Or these --

    He wanted to go to the park, however he went home.
    He wanted to go to the park, instead he went home.
    He wanted to go to the park, otherwise he would have gone home.

All of these words function as does "then."  All are conjunctive 
adverbs.  Adverbs, and so mobile.  But conjunctive, so having the 
sense of conjoining two thoughts.

Albeit, with a coordinating conjunction, a semicolon, or a period. 
Never a comma.


Odile






At 1:02 PM -0500 9/22/08, Van Boening, Tammy wrote:
>Sean,
>
>Did you have the same editor that I had? Exactly how you have given
>these two examples is how an editor from you know where dictated that we
>use the "then" option; never mind that all other editors went along with
>today's language (as Richard stated, the semi-literate, or as I call
>them, "functional illiterates") and just used "then" with a comma before
>it (as Chris has indicated.)
>
>So, you can be as strict as possible and use one of the ways Sean
>describes below, or be consistent at least and cater to the least common
>denominator and use "then" with only a comma in front of it.
>
>TVB
>
>Tammy Van Boening
>Curriculum Developer
>Charter University
>Charter Communications, Inc.
>tammy -dot- vanboening -at- chartercom -dot- com
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From:
>techwr-l-bounces+tammy -dot- vanboening=chartercom -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+tammy -dot- vanboening=chartercom -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- 
>com] On Behalf Of Sean Brierley
>Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 11:11 AM
>To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>Subject: RE: "and then," or simply "then"?
>
>*Click Gimfratz, then click the display to add new locations.*
>
>That should have a semicolon. Click Gimfratz; then, click ...
>
>*Click Gimfratz, and then click the display to add new locations.*
>
>That doesn't need a semicolon.
>
>But, I don't think our readers know what to do with a semicolon, so my
>advice is to be consistent and do it one way.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Sean
>
>___________
>Sean Brierley
>Technical Writer
>www.accu-time.com
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: techwr-l-bounces+sbrierley=accu-time -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+sbrierley=accu-time -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
>Behalf Of Chris Morton
>Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 12:42 PM
>To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>Subject: "and then," or simply "then"?
>
>
>In the context of a user guide, consider:
>
>*Click Gimfratz, then click the display to add new locations.*
>
>Using M$ Word, it insists this should read:
>
>*Click Gimfratz, and then click the display to add new locations.*
>
>In today's language, I think "and" is superfluous. What's your take?
>
>>  Chris
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