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I would like to know more about this expression: More of a/an something than something.

As far as I know, it's usually used when we refer to things that are preceded by articles such as a and an. For example, we can say "He's more of a singer than a dancer", which means that he's more like a singer than a dancer.

However, I would like to know if we can use it when the words we are describing are preceded by "the", which is also an article.

For example, can we use "The cause of the disaster was more of the operator than the machine itself"?

Any opinions are welcome.

Thanks in advance!

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    The cause of the disaster was due more to the operator than to the machine itself.
    – Jim
    Feb 10, 2019 at 20:09
  • Thank you for replying. Do you think that the expression is not compatible with words preceded by"the"?
    – Chien Te Lu
    Feb 10, 2019 at 20:14
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    No, just your choice of subject there doesn’t fit. “We saw more of the ocean than the island” is just fine.
    – Jim
    Feb 10, 2019 at 20:18
  • How about this one: These countries had been fighting each other for many years by then. The assassination in 1914 was more of the result than the cause.
    – Chien Te Lu
    Feb 10, 2019 at 20:31
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    And in any event, I think “... was more result than cause” flows much better.
    – Jim
    Feb 10, 2019 at 20:45

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He's more of a singer than a dancer.

This means that the degree to which he is a singer is greater than the degree to which he is a dancer. Note the degree to which he is a singer/dancer can be expressed without comparing two different degrees as follows:

He's not much of a singer/dancer.

He's a bit/heck/hell of a singer/dancer.

This construction doesn't accept the singer/dancer for the degree should be always about an attribute, something the singer/dancer cannot express.

*He's not much of the singer/dancer.

*He's a bit/heck/hell of the singer/dancer.

Hence the ungrammatical

*He's more of the singer than the dancer.

Now, if you don't want to compare the degrees but merely want to choose one description over the other, you should leave out of:

He's more a singer than a dancer.

Which means that "He's a singer rather than a dancer" or "He's not so much a dancer as a singer".

Similarly:

The assassination in 1914 was more a result than a cause.

means that "The assassination in 1914 was a result rather than a cause" or "The assassination in 1914 was not so much a cause as a result".

Since this construction without of isn't comparing degrees, the can be used in some cases:

It's more the exception than the rule.

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  • The problem is when you use "more", it always brings some comparison to mind so "he's more a singer than a dancer" means he has both the general skills of a singer as well a dancer but the singing skills he possess is "more" than his dancing skills. That's how I see it. Adding 'of' after 'more' is simply a stylistic preference and seems to be much more common. It doesn't change the meaning of the sentence whatsoever.
    – English--more exc than laws
    Jan 1, 2022 at 9:25
  • @English--moreexcthanlaws Note that we can say "He was more dead than alive", but we can't say "He was more dead than we'd expected".
    – JK2
    Jan 1, 2022 at 10:32
  • "He was more dead than we'd expected" would simply mean that the guy was in a worse fatal condition than they had expected which is perfectly logical for me. WBU?
    – English--more exc than laws
    Jan 2, 2022 at 4:03
  • @English--moreexcthanlaws That could be possible, but only in its figurative sense, not in its literal sense. I was talking about an example of a non-gradable adjective (e.g., dead in the literal sense). In its literal sense, "more dead" in "He was more dead than alive" does not denote a comparison of degree.
    – JK2
    Jan 2, 2022 at 4:38
  • @English--moreexcthanlaws You say Adding 'of' after 'more' is simply a stylistic preference and seems to be much more common. It doesn't change the meaning of the sentence whatsoever. However, you can't omit "of" in "He's more of a singer," which proves that it's not "simply a stylistic preference".
    – JK2
    Jan 2, 2022 at 4:41
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When describing something or somebody, only the indefinite article can be used:

  • He is more of a scientist than a physician. (This means that he can be better described as a scientist than as a physician.)

  • The final was more of a battle than a game. (This means that the final could be more accurately described as a battle than as a game.)

The example provided by Jim in a comment does not reflect this structure, since use is being made of the verb pattern "see something of something" (the first "something" is "more", meaning "more things"):

  • We saw more of the ocean than the island.

Similarly, we could have this sentence:

  • We heard more of the story than the real facts.

In both cases above, "more" means "more things" and is not used for description. In conclusion, if you want to describe by comparing using "more of", use "a/n", not "the".

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