And – Then
I often confuse the words AND and THEN. It’s only upon editing that I catch this particularly annoying mistake.
I’m here to shed some light on it, and maybe burn it into my brain a bit.
“Joe ran forward and picked up the fallen sword.”
“Joe ran forward then picked up the fallen sword.”
9 times out of 10 I’m going to write the first sentence, yet, it’s not correct. One can not be running forward while simultaneously picking up a sword. Well, technically it’s possible, it’s not likely and creates an odd image in the mind while reading. (And we don’t want a break in the immersion.)
Rule: If a character is doing one thing, then does another, use THEN.
If a character is doing two things at once, use AND.
“Joe chewed his gum and rubbed his belly.”
Both sentences seem fine to me. I don't think the word "and" implies simultaneousness. According to Dictionary.com, a possible definition for the word "and" is simply the word "then."
ReplyDeleteThough it would ultimately depend on the context, I'd say the first sentence reads better. In the first sentence it's easier for me to imagine Joe picking up the sword as quickly as he can. That is, the act of running forward was part his intent to pick up the sword very quickly. The word "then" seems to separate his intents, as if both actions are caused by slightly different thought processes, as if Joe came to a complete stop before picking up the sword (whereas he more likely began to prepare to pick up the sword (bending his back, straightening his arm, etc) while he was still running to it).