Does an event happen 'then' in the past or 'there'

Question

I have noticed people sometimes say eg "I nearly dropped my cup then". "Then" sounds wrong to me. I would say "there". Am I just making this up? I dont think of it as location "there" vs time "then" I think "there" is "there, at that specific event..and time"

Dr H · Answer

"Then" is a time-dependent referent.
"There" is a location-dependent referent.
Since "past" is also a time-referent, "then" would be correct, for sake of consistency.

Does an event happen 'then' in the past or 'there'

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