I was told by a school teacher that it was incorrect. I've seen it in articles coming from reputable sources. The general meaning would be similar to the word 'yet', but I can't find any place to confirm whether or not it is correct.
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7Context? Can you give an example? I can't immediately think of one where it means "yet".– notablytipsyCommented Aug 3, 2012 at 17:00
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Did the teacher say what was correct?– Arlen BeilerCommented Aug 3, 2012 at 17:20
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3Then too you didn't cite those sources, so how can we help?– RobustoCommented Aug 3, 2012 at 17:23
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1Your question is unanswerable as written. You must give full examples of what you mean, because the simple juxtaposition of then with too can happen in uncountably many situations, some of which are perfectly fine and others of which are not. So we have no idea what you are talking about.– tchrist ♦Commented Aug 3, 2012 at 17:23
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I couldn't find the sources. The way @Robusto used it was what I meant; not in the order of events occurring. "I studied hard, then too, I failed." That sounds wrong to me. Though the way it's written here, (9th line on the first page), it seems fine.– Some GuyCommented Aug 3, 2012 at 18:54
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2 Answers
"Then too" is a familiar construction, unexceptional and unexceptionable. Sometimes it is written "Then, too, [...]" but the commas are not necessary.
It functions as a sentence adverb, asking the listener or reader to consider new material in the context of an already established line of discourse. It is, as you say, similar to yet, but has a somewhat less contradictory quality. Consider:
All of us were adept at tennis, squash, and badminton. Then too we didn't limit ourselves to racquet sports.
All of us were adept at tennis, squash, and badminton. Yet we didn't limit ourselves to racquet sports.
No. 1 has a more casual feel to it, as if the new thought introduced by the second sentence was merely an add-on or an afterthought. It is the rhetorical equivalent of thinking out loud.
No. 2 feels more strenuous. It is making a point that should not escape notice, possibly forestalling someone's foolish and ungenerous presupposition that the group was not well-rounded in the matter of sport.
Whatever teacher told you "then too" is "wrong" is falling into the prescriptivist trap that ensnares the minds of so many in that profession. How you deal with it is simple: If you have to hand in a paper to that teacher, avoid using the phrase. For all other matters, use it in good health whenever the hell you feel like doing so.
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Being that the case, what's considered "then again"? Could be used "also then"? (just for the sake of knowledge. It sounds awful to me)– BilleebCommented Aug 3, 2012 at 19:52
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1"Then again" explicitly introduces a contradiction to or an elaboration on what has just been said. "I don't know much about bees. Then again, I don't know much about insects in general." "She wants to be able to trust you. Then again, you never gave her any reason to be able to do that."– RobustoCommented Aug 3, 2012 at 19:57
In my dialect I'd say, "then again" but I've seen it as "then too" occasionally. In some contexts I can see them being similar to "yet".
Both are informal and as such I wouldn't call either of them unacceptable if it's an informal context.
I'd recommend neither in a formal setting.
