then/before

Question

I read for over an hour this morning before falling back asleep.I read for over an hour this morning, then fell back asleep.To me, there's no difference between the sentences. Do you agree?Thanks!

Kooyeen · Accepted Answer

Hi,
there might be some contexts where those two wouldn't be interchangeable, but without any contexts, I'm pretty sure they are exactly the same.

New2grammar · Answer

Thanks, Kooyeen. Could you present a context where one is prefered over the other?

Kooyeen · Answer

Hmm, you want to exploit my imagination! Ok:

a) Mr. Brown, you said you fell back asleep at 9 am, exactly when your wife was found dead. What did you do this morining, before falling back asleep?
b) Lemme think. Before falling asleep... hmmm. I read for over an hour before falling back asleep. And I also called my daughter after reading. Nothing else.

I read for over an hour this morning, then fell back asleep.<--- this wouldn't work in the above context.

In other words, I wanted to say that:

I read for over an hour this morning, then fell back asleep. <-- you fell asleep right after you'd read for an hour
I read for over an hour this morning before falling back asleep. <-- something else might have happened between reading and falling asleep.
In most contexts they would have exaclty the same meaning, though.
Now remember I'm not a native speaker, so you might want to wait for some natives, since I could have written nonsense.

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