back then
back then — idiom
1. during an earlier period that you have already mentioned, especially one that fe
during an earlier period that you have already mentioned, especially one that feels different from now.
Gabriel grew up in a small village, and back then nobody had a phone.
back then opening a clause about an earlier period
My grandmother started teaching in 1962; back then a bus ride cost a few cents.
back then referring to a named past year
We moved to Taipei when Isabela was six, and life felt slower back then.
The old factory closed years ago, but back then it gave work to the whole town.
Hamza remembers his childhood summers, when back then the river never dried up.
- in those days
very close in meaning; slightly more storytelling in tone
- at that time
more neutral and formal; works in writing where 'back then' feels too casual
- in the past
broader and vaguer; does not point to one specific earlier period the way 'back then' does
- nowadays
marks the present period, the opposite of the earlier time 'back then' points to
- these days
informal counterpart used for the current period
文法句型
back then, + clause
clause + back then
用法筆記
Refers to a past time the speaker has already pointed to in the conversation, so it usually needs an earlier mention of that period to make sense. Often signals that things have changed since.