Timeline for What is the scope of "more" when making a list of comparatives?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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| Jan 31, 2018 at 10:58 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackEnglish/status/958655658840207360 | ||
| Jan 27, 2018 at 23:10 | answer | added | Peter Shor | timeline score: 0 | |
| Jan 24, 2018 at 16:32 | history | edited | je2018 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jan 23, 2018 at 23:29 | answer | added | WS2 | timeline score: 1 | |
| Jan 23, 2018 at 21:50 | answer | added | filistinist | timeline score: 0 | |
| Jan 23, 2018 at 18:19 | history | edited | je2018 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jan 23, 2018 at 17:39 | comment | added | Ross Murray | Correcting something in my last comment. The natural order applies to adjectives whether before a noun or not. It is the fact that using non-coordinate adjectives in natural order allows you to omit commas that only applies for lists before nouns. | |
| Jan 23, 2018 at 17:30 | history | edited | je2018 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jan 23, 2018 at 17:30 | comment | added | Ross Murray | @NigelJ, there is a "Natural Order" for adjectives. It applies only to adjectives before a noun and only to 'non-coordinate' adjectives. The significance is you don't need commas to separate those WHEN used in their natural order. For example, 'a big red rubber ball' needs no commas. But reverse the order and you do, 'a rubber, red, big ball'. 'Coordinate adjectives' are those that are so similar they have no natural order. They must have a comma or 'and'. For example, both of these sound natural, 'sleek and streamlined design' and 'streamlined, sleek design'. | |
| Jan 23, 2018 at 17:21 | history | edited | je2018 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jan 23, 2018 at 17:20 | review | Close votes | |||
| Jan 24, 2018 at 19:34 | |||||
| Jan 23, 2018 at 17:15 | history | edited | je2018 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jan 23, 2018 at 17:12 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | The default reading for, say, #3 (more important and expensive), would be that X is more expensive. If it was significant that X had the same (high) price, you'd explicitly include equally / [just] as / etc. expensive. And if X was cheaper, you'd specify less expensive, so it would be contextually natural to extend the scope of preceding more if there was no other modifier (i.e. - by default, #3 and #4 are equivalent). But you wouldn't expect to do that with small, since that sense would naturally be expressed by smaller rather than more small anyway. | |
| Jan 23, 2018 at 16:32 | comment | added | je2018 | @user159691 Can you give a bit more of support to your answer? I've also edited the question to reflect that it isn't only about grammatical correctness but also avoiding ambiguity. | |
| Jan 23, 2018 at 16:31 | comment | added | Nigel J | @PeterShor Interesting point, but my own perception is that it still applies and the Ngram - to some extent - confirms that. | |
| Jan 23, 2018 at 16:28 | comment | added | Peter Shor | @NigelJ: but that list is for adjectives that come before the noun. I'm not sure it applies in this case. For example, "big red" completely dwarfs "red big" on Google Ngrams, but this isn't the case for "bigger and redder" vs. "redder and bigger" See Ngrams. | |
| Jan 23, 2018 at 16:27 | comment | added | je2018 | @NigelJ Thanks! That link is awesome. I've been looking for this information for years. But it's doesn't answer my question yet... | |
| Jan 23, 2018 at 16:20 | history | edited | je2018 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jan 23, 2018 at 16:19 | comment | added | Lawrence | Good find, @NigelJ! | |
| Jan 23, 2018 at 16:10 | comment | added | Nigel J | @je2018 There have been lists published which are not just style guides but academic papers which describe psychological perceptions. EL&U dealt with it here --> english.stackexchange.com/questions/1155/… | |
| Jan 23, 2018 at 16:04 | comment | added | je2018 | @NigelJ From where did you get that rule? An even if that's true, I'm asking for the rule of thumb here (not only for sentences that include small). | |
| Jan 23, 2018 at 15:48 | comment | added | Nigel J | Some will disagree with this, but I think that size comes first, 'smaller, more important and more expensive'. | |
| Jan 23, 2018 at 15:46 | comment | added | user 66974 | No, more modifies only the first adjective in your sentences. All sentences are grammatically correct. | |
| Jan 23, 2018 at 15:46 | history | edited | Nigel J | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jan 23, 2018 at 15:40 | review | First posts | |||
| Jan 23, 2018 at 16:13 | |||||
| Jan 23, 2018 at 15:39 | history | asked | je2018 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |