I am no more a child than you are (a child)

[keannu]

How can I understand this sentence? Is it like "The fact that I am no more a child is like the fact you are no more a child"? Why isn't there "no more" between "are" and "a child"?

ex)I am no more a child than you are (a child)

 

[SirGod]

* Not a teacher

I think that it could be interpreted as:

I am less childish than you are.
or
Maybe I am childish, but you are more childish than me.

It is not a very common construction, only a few hits for "no more a/an *" on both COCA and BNC.

 

[bhaisahab]

It means "we are equally childlike".

 

[5jj]

It means "we are equally childlike".

I would have though it meant "we are equally un-childlike".

 

[Rover_KE]

To me it means 'Neither of us are children'.

 

[5jj]

I prefer Rover's version to mine. :up:

 

[bhaisahab]

I would have though it meant "we are equally un-childlike".

Yes, you are right.

 

[philo2009]

How can I understand this sentence? Is it like "The fact that I am no more a child is like the fact you are no more a child"? Why isn't there "no more" between "are" and "a child"?

ex)I am no more a child than you are (a child)

It means 'to no greater degree or extent'.

 

[keannu]

It means 'to no greater degree or extent'.

Thank you all for the answers, but my intention was to analyze the word composition, and as I judge, it would be like this.
"I am no more a child than you are (not) a child' = my not being a child is no different from your not being a child.=> but it seems a varied way from the latter to the former.

 

[BobK]

You seem to have the right idea - although the way you express it is challenging ;-)

'You are not a child. The extent to which you are a child [i.e. not] is the same for you and me.' I could say to 5jj either 'You are no more a child than I am' or 'I am no more a child than you are'.- Our lack of infancy is equivalent.

As that COCA report showed, it's not a common format. I imagine it was popular - if only in Br English - when all the major schools offered Latin and Greek. (I can't put my finger on the precise structure*, but it seems to reflect a rather classical way of thinking.)

b
PS Perhaps talis...qualis... or tot...quot... maybe - but don't quote me!