comparative degree

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jiang

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Nov 18, 2003
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Dear teachers,

This is a sentence in my textbook:
My car consumes more gas than hers.
I think this sentence can be rewritten the following way:
My car consumes more gas than her car consumes.
Does this mean in comparative sentences “be” and “do” can always be omitted?
For example:
He is a far better dentist than you (are).
I don’t like smoking any more than you (do).

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang
 

Raymott

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Jun 29, 2008
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Academic
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Australia
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Australia
Dear teachers,

This is a sentence in my textbook:
My car consumes more gas than hers.
I think this sentence can be rewritten the following way:
My car consumes more gas than her car consumes.
Does this mean in comparative sentences “be” and “do” can always be omitted?
For example:
He is a far better dentist than you (are).
I don’t like smoking any more than you (do).

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang
The simple answer is "Yes they can [be]".

The long answer is more complicated.
First, there is the complication that sometimes the meaning is lost.
"I like her more than you" can mean:
"I like her more than you do" or
"I like her more than I like you".
(Note that 'you' is both subjective and objective case - nominative and accusative.

Second, there is sometimes disagreement about the correct pronoun to use, where the accusative "him, me, etc." is often used in place of the nominative:
"I like her more than him" can actually mean:
"I like her more than I like him" and
"I like her more than he does".
This use of pronouns has been discussed extensively on other threads - especially under "I vs me"
 
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