grammar and vocabulary

[jiang]

Dear teachers,
I have two questions to ask.

1. Please read the following sentence:

Hormones do more than influence adult behavior: early in life they hlp to determine the development of bodily form and may even determine and individula's behavioral capacities.

My question concerns with 'Hornones do more than influence adult....'. Is this an emphatic sentence with the basic structure ' Hormones do influence adult...' or comparative? It seems like comparative, but I can't find the structure in my grammar book. I only know the pattern ' more than, less than, or worse than+adj.'

Could you please tell me if there is a pattern that 'more than' can connect two verbs?

2. I know the word advocate to refer to a person . Now in my exercise book I came across the word 'advocator'. Trying to see the difference between the two words I consulted my dictionary complied by Chinese lexicographers only to find the definitions or translations of the two words are the same. Could you please tell me the difference between the two? I'd like to say I couldn't find 'advocator' in my English-English dictionary. Does it suggest it is not as often used as 'advocate?

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Have a nice weekend.

Jiang

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by jiang

2. I know the word advocate to refer to a person. Now in my exercise book I came across the word 'advocator'. Trying to see the difference between the two words I consulted my dictionary complied by Chinese lexicographers only to find the definitions or translations of the two words are the same. Could you please tell me the difference between the two? I'd like to say I couldn't find 'advocator' in my English-English dictionary. Does it suggest it is not as often used as 'advocate?

They are one and the same word. The noun advocate is first recorded in 1340, whereas the verb to advocate followed in 1641. That is, the noun 'advocate' (note pronunciation, advocIt) was made into a verb (note, advoc[e]t. Moreover, since in English, the suffix -or is added to verbs to form nouns e.g. advise (vb.) -> advisor, I suspect the same process or rule was applied to advocate (vb.) -> advocator (n.), originally advocate (n.).

:)

www.etymonline.com

[jiang]

Thank you for your explanation.
Jiang

Originally Posted by jiang

Dear teachers,
I have two questions to ask.

1. Please read the following sentence:

Hormones do more than influence adult behavior: early in life they hlp to determine the development of bodily form and may even determine and individula's behavioral capacities.

My question concerns with 'Hornones do more than influence adult....'. Is this an emphatic sentence with the basic structure ' Hormones do influence adult...' or comparative? It seems like comparative, but I can't find the structure in my grammar book. I only know the pattern ' more than, less than, or worse than+adj.'

Could you please tell me if there is a pattern that 'more than' can connect two verbs?

2. I know the word advocate to refer to a person . Now in my exercise book I came across the word 'advocator'. Trying to see the difference between the two words I consulted my dictionary complied by Chinese lexicographers only to find the definitions or translations of the two words are the same. Could you please tell me the difference between the two? I'd like to say I couldn't find 'advocator' in my English-English dictionary. Does it suggest it is not as often used as 'advocate?

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Have a nice weekend.

Jiang

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by jiang

Dear teachers,
I have two questions to ask.

1. Please read the following sentence:

Hormones do more than influence adult behavior: early in life they hlp to determine the development of bodily form and may even determine and individula's behavioral capacities.

My question concerns with 'Hornones do more than influence adult....'. Is this an emphatic sentence with the basic structure ' Hormones do influence adult...' or comparative? It seems like comparative, but I can't find the structure in my grammar book. I only know the pattern ' more than, less than, or worse than+adj.'

Could you please tell me if there is a pattern that 'more than' can connect two verbs?

The use of "do" in that sentence is not the emphatic do. It is the use of "do" as normal verb (meaning "perform a function"). This is a bit different than other uses of "more than". It is not the same as "three is more than two". In your sentence "more" is a noun and it is the object of "do".

"More than" can be used to connect two verbs in other constructions.
As a singer, John is known to belt more than croon.
When I exercise, I walk more than run.

2. I know the word advocate to refer to a person . Now in my exercise book I came across the word 'advocator'. Trying to see the difference between the two words I consulted my dictionary complied by Chinese lexicographers only to find the definitions or translations of the two words are the same. Could you please tell me the difference between the two? I'd like to say I couldn't find 'advocator' in my English-English dictionary. Does it suggest it is not as often used as 'advocate?

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Have a nice weekend.

Jiang

I agree with Cas on this part. :wink:

[jiang]

Thank you very much for your explanation.
If more is a noun in this case then the whole sentence could be 'Hornones do more than they influence adult...'. Am I right?
Jiang

Originally Posted by MikeNewYork

The use of "do" in that sentence is not the emphatic do. It is the use of "do" as normal verb (meaning "perform a function"). This is a bit different than other uses of "more than". It is not the same as "three is more than two". In your sentence "more" is a noun and it is the object of "do".

"More than" can be used to connect two verbs in other constructions.
As a singer, John is known to belt more than croon.
When I exercise, I walk more than run.

I agree with Cas on this part. :wink:

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by jiang

Thank you very much for your explanation.
If more is a noun in this case then the whole sentence could be 'Hornones do more than they influence adult...'. Am I right?

Hormones do more than [just] influence adult behavior: [They also] help to determine the development of bodily form and may even determine and individula's behavioral capacities. :D

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by jiang

Thank you very much for your explanation.
If more is a noun in this case then the whole sentence could be 'Hornones do more than they influence adult...'. Am I right?
Jiang

I agree with Cas's response. You cannot put the "they" there in that sentence. :wink:

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by jiang

Hormones do more than influence adult behavior: help to determine the development of bodily form and may even determine and individula's behavioral capacities.

What about looking at it this way?

1. Hormones influence adult behavior.
(Subject+Verb+Object)

2. Hormones do more than influence adult behavior
(Subject+Adverb+Verb+Object)

do more than (verb+object in form, adverb in function) :)

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by Casiopea

What about looking at it this way?

1. Hormones influence adult behavior.
(Subject+Verb+Object)

2. Hormones do more than influence adult behavior
(Subject+Adverb+Verb+Object)

do more than (verb+object in form, adverb in function) :)

Hmmm. I see your point, but I think that is stretching the adverb designation a bit too far. :wink:

[jiang]

I think you hold different opinions in that Casiopea thinks that 'more than' is an adverbial phrase. You think 'more' is a noun.

Is it correct to rewirte the sentence this way: What hormones do is more than influence adult behavior....'?

Jiang

Originally Posted by MikeNewYork

Hmmm. I see your point, but I think that is stretching the adverb designation a bit too far. :wink: