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Thread: harmed more than helped

  1. #1
    navi tasan is offline Senior Member
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    Default harmed more than helped

    1-He harmed more than helped me.
    2-He harmed me more than helped me.
    3-He harmed me more than he helped me.

    In which case:
    a-He did both but the harm was greater than the help
    b-What he did would more aptly be described as "harm" rather than "help
    c-The sentence is ambiguous

  2. #2
    Barb_D's Avatar
    Barb_D is offline Moderator
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    Default Re: harmed more than helped

    In attempting to help you, he ended up harming more than helping.

    The simple way to say this: He did more harm than good.
    navi tasan likes this.
    I'm not a teacher, but I write for a living. Please don't ask me about 2nd conditionals, but I'm a safe bet for what reads well in (American) English.

  3. #3
    Tdol is offline Editor, UsingEnglish.com
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    Default Re: harmed more than helped

    3- a
    1 & 2 are less clear
    navi tasan likes this.

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