[Grammar] comparison

[miladb]

Hello

"The fundamental voltage is a more similar waveform to the final waveform than the added voltage."

I'm a little confused about the meaning of the above sentence which I've come across in a technical paper.I wonder if either "the fundamental voltage" is being compared to the "added voltage" in terms of similarity to the "final waveform" OR "the fundamental voltage" is more like the "final waveform" and less like the "added voltage"?

thanks for helping me out.

 

[bhaisahab]

Hello

"The fundamental voltage is a more similar waveform to the final waveform than the added voltage."

I'm a little confused about the meaning of the above sentence which I've come across in a technical paper.I wonder if either "the fundamental voltage" is being compared to the "added voltage" in terms of similarity to the "final waveform" OR "the fundamental voltage" is more like the "final waveform" and less like the "added voltage"?

thanks for helping me out.

It doesn't make much sense to me.

 

[miladb]

what doesn't make sense to you? the example sentence or my question? if the former's the case I could simply replace the sentence with this one:
"the "red device" is a more similar product to the "final concept" than the "blue one".
does this sentence have grammatical mistakes or something?
would you please illustrate it's meaning!

 

[Barb_D]

You can say "The red dress is more similar to the blue dress than it is to the black one." This compares the level of similarity between red-and-blue with that of red-and black.

You can say "The red dress is more similar to the blue dress than the black one is." This compares the level of similarity between red-and-blue with that of black-and-blue.


If you just say "The red dress is more similar to the blue dress than the black one" we don't know if you're comparing red-and-blue with red-and-black or red-and-blue with blue-and-black.


Thing 1: aaaaaaaaBBB
Thing 2: aaaaaaaaCBC
Things 3: aaaaaaCCC

Thing 1 is more similar to Thing 2 than it is to Thing 3. (1 is more like 2 than 1 is like 3)
Thing 1 is not more similar to Thing 2 than Thing 3 is. (3 is more like 2 than 1 is like 2)

 

[konungursvia]

You should probably ask an electrical engineer. I'll ask my wife when she and the baby wake up. But I do know that in AC, the voltage is a waveform resembling a sine wave. Perhaps in situations where the potential difference is boosted by some mechanism, the added voltage is itself not sinusoidal, but logarithmic, so the initial and final waveforms would look a lot more like each other (wavy) than the added voltage (a single hill). But I'm only guessing here.

 

[5jj]

[STRIKE]w[/STRIKE]What doesn't make sense to you? [STRIKE]t[/STRIKE]The example sentence or my question

The responses from Barb and konungursvia might give you an idea.

? if the former's the case I could simply replace the sentence with this one:
"the "red device" is a more similar product to the "final concept" than the "blue one".

No, as Barb's response shows.

[STRIKE]d[/STRIKE]oes this sentence have grammatical mistakes or something?

It's certainly difficult to understand.

[STRIKE]w[/STRIKE]Would you please illustrate it[STRIKE]'[/STRIKE]s meaning!

It's difficult to explain the meaning of a badly constructed sentence.

 

[miladb]

Thanks for the illustration.
What if we put stress on some words?wouldn't it make the sentence more understandable? I have no exact idea where to put the stresses but I'm asking if it could help distinguish the two different meanings. for example: The red dress is more similar to the BLUE DRESS than the black one. Can we deduct that the comparison is being made between red and blue with red and black?

 

[miladb]

You should probably ask an electrical engineer. I'll ask my wife when she and the baby wake up. But I do know that in AC, the voltage is a waveform resembling a sine wave. Perhaps in situations where the potential difference is boosted by some mechanism, the added voltage is itself not sinusoidal, but logarithmic, so the initial and final waveforms would look a lot more like each other (wavy) than the added voltage (a single hill). But I'm only guessing here.

Yes I should probably ask an electrical engineer. but the problem is I am an electrical engineer.
You know the paper that I'm working on is not my professional field of study.
Thank you very much anyway.

 

[miladb]

You can say "The red dress is more similar to the blue dress than it is to the black one." This compares the level of similarity between red-and-blue with that of red-and black.

You can say "The red dress is more similar to the blue dress than the black one is." This compares the level of similarity between red-and-blue with that of black-and-blue.


If you just say "The red dress is more similar to the blue dress than the black one" we don't know if you're comparing red-and-blue with red-and-black or red-and-blue with blue-and-black.


Thing 1: aaaaaaaaBBB
Thing 2: aaaaaaaaCBC
Things 3: aaaaaaCCC

Thing 1 is more similar to Thing 2 than it is to Thing 3. (1 is more like 2 than 1 is like 3)
Thing 1 is not more similar to Thing 2 than Thing 3 is. (3 is more like 2 than 1 is like 2)

Thanks for the illustration.
What if we put stress on some words?wouldn't it make the sentence more understandable? I have no exact idea where to put the stresses but I'm asking if it could help distinguish the two different meanings. for example: The red dress is more similar to the BLUE DRESS than the black one. Can we deduct that the comparison is being madebetween red and blue with red and black?

 

[SoothingDave]

Hello

"The fundamental voltage is a more similar waveform to the final waveform than the added voltage."

I'm a little confused about the meaning of the above sentence which I've come across in a technical paper.I wonder if either "the fundamental voltage" is being compared to the "added voltage" in terms of similarity to the "final waveform" OR "the fundamental voltage" is more like the "final waveform" and less like the "added voltage"?

thanks for helping me out.

I'm an EE. It is saying that the fundamental voltage is similar to the final waveform. The added voltage is not similar to either of the other two.