[Grammar] will

[dodonaomik]

:up:Tiny quantities of more than thirty rare gases, most of them industrial by-products,
threaten to warm the Earth’s atmosphere even more rapidly over the next fifty years than carbon dioxide will.:tick:


:?: I can understand will in the meaning_______the carbon dioxide will threaten to warm the Earth’s atmosphere.
But the integral original sentence really gives me a strange feeling, even I felt it's wrong and the original sentence
should be corrected as the following:
Tiny quantities of more than thirty rare gases, most of them industrial by-products, will threaten to warm the Earth’s atmosphere even more rapidly over the next fifty years than carbon dioxide.
Is my opinion right? Sincere thanks!!!

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

I don't think you're right.

The tiny quantities of rare gases are threatening to warm the atmosphere. The threat exists now, the warming may come later. It is wrong to say "will threaten".

Carbon dioxide is already warming the Earth's atmosphere. It is assumed that it will continue to do so. The rate of warming due to carbon dioxide over the next fifty years may be exceeded by that due to the tiny quantities of rare gases.

 

[Tdol]

If you don't like will, you could simply remove it.

 

[dodonaomik]

If you don't like will, you could simply remove it.

Don't like? Hehe:-D Yesterday night I thought so_______
At first I felt Roman55's words were very very reasonable, later I felt in fact we were unnecessary to assume
that the carbon dioxide will continue to threaten to warm the Earth's atmosphere,
beacause to us;-) it's a common knowledge that the carbon dioxide threatens to warm the Earth's atmosphere.


Will makes the original sentence very good but if will is removed，
from an objective point of view the sentence is also not wrong IMO.


ps: Yesterday night my computer had a breakdown， so it made me feel more tired.
But solving the problem makes me feel happy! So learning is a paradox.
I am very moved by Roman and Tdol's unselfish help!!!

 

[MikeNewYork]

<<<it's a common knowledge that the carbon dioxide threatens to warm the Earth's atmosphere.>>>

As Mark Twain once said, “What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so.”

 

[Barb_D]

Tiny quantities of more than thirty rare gases, most of them industrial by-products, threaten to warm the Earth’s atmosphere even more rapidly over the next fifty years than carbon dioxide will.


I can understand will in the meaning_______the carbon dioxide will [STRIKE]threaten to [/STRIKE]warm the Earth’s atmosphere.

I believe you have added too much to what what the "will" is supposed to say.

Here's a different example.
Two men say they love me.
Roger promised to love me more than Frank will.

Here, the "will" is not "more than Frank will promise to love me" but "more than Frank will love me."

Or this silly example:
I have to recommend one of two people for a job that neither of them want.
Greg says that if I recommend him, he will put salt instead of sugar in my coffee for a year.
Rachel says that if I recommend her, she will leave pictures of spiders (which terrify me) on my desk for two years.
Rachel threatens to make me regret it more than Greg will. -- More than Greg will make me regret it, not "more than Greg will threaten to make me regret it."

 

[emsr2d2]

Rachel threatens to make me regret it more than Greg will. -- More than Greg will make me regret it, not "more than Greg will threaten to make me regret it."

Interesting - when I first read your sentence (and before I read your explanation), I took it to mean "Rachel threatens to make me regret it more than Greg will regret it".

 

[dodonaomik]

Don't like? Hehe:-D Yesterday night I thought so_______
At first I felt Roman55's words were very very reasonable, later I felt in fact[STRIKE] we were unnecessary to assume
that... ... [/STRIKE]

I want to correct my error, please see the following!

:up:Tiny quantities of more than thirty rare gases, most of them industrial by-products,
threaten to warm the Earth’s atmosphere even more rapidly over the next fifty years than carbon dioxide will.:tick:

Last night, I felt over the next fifty years and will wanted to tell us that we must assume that
1)For rare gases, [STRIKE] the future speed of warming is approximate to or equal to the present speed.[/STRIKE](now)
（For rare gases, there exist no assumption.）
2)For carbon dioxide, the future speed of warming is approximate to or equal to the past speed.(already)

Now I think I have understood Roman55's words.

 

[Barb_D]

No.
The sentence says that carbon dioxide will cause SOME warming to the atmosphere..
Over the next 50 years, these 30 rare gases will warm the atmosphere more than that. (At least, they threaten to. I assume the rest of the article says how to keep this from happening.)

 

[dodonaomik]

I believe you have added too much to what what the "will" is supposed to say.

Here's a different example.
Two men say they love me.
Roger promised to love me more than Frank will.

Here, the "will" is not "more than Frank will promise to love me" but "more than Frank will love me."

Can I understand that promise cannot be compared or it is unnecessary to be compared(If Frank promised to me like Roger)?

Or this silly example:

It's obviously not a silly example but a good example.

 

[Tdol]

In the example, there is no comparison with promise, because only Roger promised. They both said they would love her.

 

[dodonaomik]

In the example, there is no comparison with promise, because only Roger promised. They both said they would love her.

Now I have understood that which is compared is love not promise

 

[Barb_D]

And in the original, the comparison is the extent to which they will warm, not the extent to which they threaten.