early vs then

early

adv
  • Soon; in good time; seasonably. 

  • At a time before expected; sooner than usual. 

noun
  • A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place early in the day. 

adj
  • Near the start or beginning. 

  • Near the start of the day. 

  • Having begun to occur; in its early stages. 

  • At a time in advance of the usual or expected event. 

  • Arriving a time before expected; sooner than on time. 

  • Of a star or class of stars, hotter than the sun. 

then

adv
  • Soon afterward. 

  • Next in order of place. 

  • At that time. 

  • In addition; also; besides. 

  • At the same time; on the other hand. 

  • Used to contradict an assertion. 

  • In that case. 

noun
  • That time 

adj
  • Being so at that time. 

How often have the words early and then occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )