grammar - Is it possible to start a grammatically-correct English sentence with the word "Than"?


Question:



  • Is it possible to start a grammatically-correct English sentence with the word "Than"?

  • If no, what other English words share this property?


Background:



  • Trevor claimed that it is impossible. This is an attempt to verify or repudiate Trevor's claim.



Answer



Playing off WS2's comments, there's this excerpt from Cakes and Ale: or, the Skeleton in the Cupboard, a 1930 novel by W. Somerset Maugham:



"Than Roy no one could show a more genuine cordiality to a fellow novelist whose name was on everybody’s lips, but no one could more genially turn a cold shoulder on him when idleness, failure or someone else’s success had cast a shade on his notoriety." (Source)



This is, at least to me, a stylistic choice to invert the natural order of the sentence. It actually flows quite well to my ears, and though I've never used the construction myself, it sounds quite natural.


So, based on this one example alone (and the others that can be formed from its example), I would hazard that the answer to your question is yes and that Trevor, by the answer's merits, is repudiated.


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