“I would rather have the cookie than the cake” does not mean the same as “I would rather have the cookie then the cake”.
Monday Muddle: than, then
than: (conjunction, preposition) used to link two parts of a comparison; used with “more’, less’, and ‘fewer’ to indicate amounts (a group of more than 10 people); used to state a preference between two objects then: (adverb) next; afterward; at a specified time “I would rather have the cookie than …