student asking question

What does "and then" mean at the end of the sentence?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

You'll see that Ellen is making a runoff sentence here. Usually "and then..." is used to introduce the next idea or part of the sentence, but she trails off here and Taylor Swift takes over. There is no real reason for using "and then," it's simply a speaking habit that many native speakers have. Ex: A: I went to school but found out I was late. B: And then you got caught by your teacher? Ex: I had the worst day ever. I got splashed by a car on the road. And then I did poorly at my work meeting.

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