student asking question

Shouldn't "then" be placed in front of the sentence? How come it's placed after the subject?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

Normally, it is best to place "then" in front of a subject because this is used most commonly. However, the meaning is not changed when the subject is put in front of "then". Often times when listing a sequence of actions, events, or steps, it is common to say "subject + then" for the last step or action in the sequence. Using "subject + then" also makes a sentence sound more formal, so it is not common to use this in every day conversation, although it is grammatically correct and okay to use. Here's some examples of using "subject + then": Ex: First he went to the pet store. Then he went to the doctor. He then decided he was tired and went home. Ex: I asked my teacher and he didn't know. I asked a few others and they didn't know either. I then did some research on my own and got my answer.

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