I can buy more furniture then

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Woman: Look everything is fifty percent off.

Man: Who cares? I’ve already bought my bookcase. I don’t need anything else.

Woman: : How can you say that! Everything is on sale today.

Man: : So what? Everything will be on sale tomorrow. I can buy more furniture then.

What does “then” mean in this sentence?

Does it mean “therefore” or does it mean “at that time” or something else?

Thank you

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2

“At that time”

In a different context, that same sentence could have a different meaning.

Women: We do need some things and we have a little money left over.
Man: I can buy more furniture then .

Here it means, “Based on what you said, I can buy more furniture.”

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Thank you so much, Arinker :rose:

Very nice.

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Arinker already explained it pretty well. I just wanted to add something.

If you are a programmer or have studied logic, then you understand a basic IF-THEN statement.

If I have enough money then I will buy the car.
If it does not rain then I will go for a walk.

If the furniture is on sale then I can buy more.
The furniture is on sale. I can buy more then.

The second sentence places the word ‘then’ at the end. It has the same meaning as placing it at the beginning. You should not start a sentence with then so he places it at the end instead.

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Thank you so much, NearlyNapping :rose:

Very nice explanation.

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Fun with commas

If the furniture is on sale, then I can buy more.
If the furniture is on sale then, I can buy more.

The first sentence is NN’s. IF-THEN construct.
In the second sentence, “then” refers to a specific time in the future.

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Ah, you’re right/ Now that I reread it in context that’s what it means. Without the full context it could mean either one.

I’ve wondered if the purpose of this dialog is to show typical sales BS. All the other questions about this topic have shown typical sales BS also.

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