Questions tagged [comparisons]
Questions about grammaticality of comparisons
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Which is preferable: Suffice to say, or Suffice it to say?
The Australian Concise Oxford Dictionary, ed 7 (1987) [which I find to be still a useful resource], says "suffice" is an intransitive verb, giving the example "suffice to do." But ...
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Are "compared with" and "compared to" participle phrases?
Is "compared with" in the sentence below a participle phrase?
If so, why shouldn't a comma precede it? If not, what role is it playing?
The number of people who regularly eat fast food was ...
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"Greenland may not be as "green" as the name suggests". Is the second "as" a comparative conjunction although there is no object after "suggest"?
In the sentence below,
Greenland may not be as "green" as the name suggests.
The verb "suggest" should preceed an object as it is a transitive verb, but in the sentence, there is ...
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Transformation of sentences from positive to comparative
The question was to transform this sentence from positive to comparative degree:
She is not so young as I expected.
Following the solutions of other sentences of this kind (the photo shows a similar ...
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How do you state multiple comparisons in one sentence?
The topics covered range from the homeless to celebrities, from
ghettos to gated communities and from white to black.
In the sentence above, do I need to include "from" all 3 times or do I ...
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"as" and "that" interchangeability
This is a sentence from a piece of technical writing I am reviewing, penned by a British author, and I can't help but want to change "that" to "as".
That word still means the same ...
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Why are some adjectives noncomaparable? [duplicate]
As far as I was taught and read in various places (examples: 1, 2), some adjectives in English are not comparable, which is that they don't have comparative and superlative forms. Why is that? I think ...
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Is there a word for "a broad range of knowledge"?
I am attempting to contrast being an expert in something and having a broad range of knowledge but expertise nowhere. Is there a word to sum up that second element? The sentence I am trying to fit ...
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Possibility of omitting preposition phrase
I wonder if I can omit the parenthesized part here?
Extraordinary success is achieved by working on commissions one after the other rather than (by doing all of them) simultaneously.
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Uses of definite article before comparative degree [closed]
Here are two sentences from a grammar book:
"He is the stronger of the two."
"Reena is smarter than any other student of her class."
In the first sentence, the definite article (...
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3
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Something registered against your ID
Recently I read an article with the title :
How to check all the phone numbers registered against your identity card.
Is use of preposition against correct here? I thought why not use the ...
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A word or phrase to describe something “significant to one yet trivial to another”
I feel as though a word exists to describe an event or scenario that is significant to one person and trivial to another. An example of this would be the first time I met my Fiancé. I know the night ...
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1
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Difference between Repeat and Recur
Based on what I read on Oxford Dictionary, it seems that repeat is used
to state that the subject of the verb is repeating the object, while
recur is used when we want to say that the subject happens ...
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What prepositions does ‘are concerned’ take? [closed]
What is the most appropriate preposition to go with the verb phrase are concerned in the following sentence from some test or homework?
Although ballet and modern dance are both concerned [ in / to / ...
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Need help with superlatives and comparisons [closed]
I'm unsure of how to handle the following situation, which deals with superlatives and comparisons in English.
Let's say basketball player Mr. A scored 50 points in a basketball game in 2010, his most ...
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2
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How could I compare two figures in English [closed]
Say there's a leading board for revenues.
Company A: $10m
Company B: $5m
Company C: $2m
I want to emphasize that the "top" is twice as high as the "second":
The revenue for ...
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"dinosaurs to fly" vs "flying dinosaurs" [closed]
I read a passage from an LSAT:
"It seems likely that the earliest dinosaurs to fly did so by gliding out of trees rather than, as some scientists think, by lifting off the ground from a running ...
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Frequent Comparisons
I'm working on a paper and have to compare two groups (in percentage) who either do or do not do particular activities. I don't want to use the same structure again and again throughout the text. Are ...
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Artist's block or artist block, which is correct? [closed]
I've always thought artist's block was correct but then when doing some research recently I've also stumbled upon artist block (without apostrophe "s") quite a bit too. They can't both be ...
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2
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complicated usage of "as something as"
Once, of course, our satisfactions were provided by our parents, or the
people who looked after us when we were young. And it is clearly a very
significant moment, or series of moments, in a child’s ...
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Is there any situation that requires the use of specifically one of or both the words "less" or "more"?
If quantity(s) A is less than quantity(s) B, then by definition quantity(s) B is more than quantity(s) A. It seems to me that you can use only the word "less" or only the word "more&...
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A question about "than"
I want to say
We identified a protein molecule ABC, the expression level of which was significantly lower in cell X than (the expression level) in cell Y.
Is this the correct to omit "the ...
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2
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imply vs explain in a passage
I have a hard time telling what's the difference between using "implication" and "explanation" in the following passage:
Even fatal pathogens can achieve evolutionary success. One ...
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as many as have ever been
There seem now to be as many tribes, and as much conflict between them, as there have ever been.
-> Would it be safe to say that this as ~ as have ever been structure is used to make a statement ...
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“A is claimed to follow from B” vs “B is offered as support for A”
These two following sentences are from an LSAT. "It" in both sentences refers to the same sentence in the stimulus. Each sentence below is presented as answer choices and thus I am trying to ...
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1
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Multiple Numbers Comparison with "times in"
Dear potential resolvers,
I'm currently stuck with this enigma:
Distance between last two pelvic-fin rays 2.7-4.0 times in body width at pelvic-fin origin
The "times in" part confuses me. ...
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2
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46
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Establishing A is confused with “having established” the cause of A
I have trouble understanding this sentence:
Establishing that a certain event occurred is confused with having established the cause of that event. (from an LSAT)
What is the implication for the ...
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43
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Comparative adverb
I was taught that object of a preposition is always a noun, but I have often seen that a comparison adverb comes immediately after a preposition, then a noun phrase preceded by an adverb comes, which ...
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1
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how to avoid repetition in comparing two things in a line graph
I have a problem with repetition for describing this graph. This graph represents the strong ground motion acceleration (vertical axes) over the period (the horizontal axes) for different return ...
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6
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Is it standard to compare two nouns?
I have come across a sentence comparing two nouns as follows:
Mr. Hafner is German and has a buttoned-up manner that is more
boardroom than barn.
In the sentence, the nouns boardroom and barn are ...
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Diameter comparison: larger, bigger, higher, greater?
Which adjective do I use with diameter to compare its size? Is there even one correct answer or is it a style choice?
The general diameter of veins is [larger|bigger|higher|greater] than that of ...
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Percentage comparison to/by/of/in
I am trying to see if there is a general rule for for percentage comparisons when it comes to additive or multiplicative results. For example, lets say I have 100 apples. I could say:
My apples have ...
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2
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Name of this lyrical device comparing oneself to something that's described by the same word, but in another sense of the word?
Warning: The examples contain some offensive words, but I believe that is not against the rules here?
Lately I've been listening a lot to a certain hip-hop album, in which almost every track uses a ...
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The number is smaller, fewer or less than?
I always make confusion about the correct usage of the comparative for "irregular" adjectives (I don't know if this is the correct term).
Recently I had to write "the number of X is ...
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The usage of the words "different" and "from"
How is the Coca Cola recipe different in the U.S. from the U.K.?
My question is whether this is the correct form of this type of question or it should be "from in the U.K." or even "...
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not matched by vs. unmatched by
I want to use two sentences as examples for my questions:
i) The amount of A will not be matched by that of B.
ii) The amount of A will be unmatched by that of B.
Is it correct to say that: ii) only ...
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Assume vs. presuppose
I've read all related online posts but still found quite confused in distinguishing the two.
I tried to construct the following examples:
i) My colleagues are wrong in alleging there are more crimes ...
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Recommend something "better" or "more" than
I've been wondering what would be more grammatically correct to say:
I recommend this better than this.
Or
I recommend this more than this.
Are there better (colloquial) ways of expressing this ...
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Two different comparisons ("more ... than" and "same ... as") in one sentence
Consider two tasks named A and B with the following properties:
Task A requires more effort than task B.
Task A yields as much reward as task B.
I want to say both statements in one sentence. Which ...
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"as in" or "as opposite to" in showing dissimilarity?
The usage of "as in" in sentences with negative meaning:
Home dialysis methods have come to the forefront among renal replacement therapies due to the minimal risk of infection transmission ...
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Looking for a phrase that involves comparison to overlooked stepsister
In certain places I have read a phrase that involves comparing someone/something to an overlooked stepsister (originating from Cinderella maybe). It's supposed to convey the neglected status of that ...
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How do I maintain the comparison between two things in this sentence without it sounding redundant? [closed]
Consider this sentence: "Like drinking water, bleeding blood is normal." The phrase "bleeding blood" is clearly redundant, but were I to exclude "blood," I would ruin the ...
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Is it obligatory to write the word "as" twice in comparison of equality?
This really baffles me since I've always regarded the "as...as" form as standard but I've heard a lot of people say phrases like "cool as heck" and even "solitary as an oyster&...
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What is the grammatical structure after the comma?
Even with the proposed budget cuts and new taxes and fees, the city's projected deficit for the next budget year is getting worse: administration officials announced that they believe the gap will be $...
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Comparison (using Ellipsis)
I am trying to figure out when do we need to use an action verb explicitly and when can we omit it using the (ellipsis concept). For Example:
John is taller than Jim [is] (I understood that here is ...
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How would you use "that," "that for," "those," "those for," etc. in comparisons?
I came across this question in SAT prep.
"For both commercial and, arguably, creative reasons, then, no transition was more successful than those from the Golden Age to Silver Age."
A) NO ...
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Rhythm - help me finish this phrase...The voice of an angel, the rhythm of a _____________ [closed]
Please help me finish this phrase, the voice of an angel, the rhythm of a _______________.
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"a couple": adverbial phrase
Page 229 of Garner's fourth edition reads
When couple is used with comparison words such as more, fewer, and too
many, the of is omitted <have a couple more shrimp>.
In the predicate
of the ...
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usage of more common/more frequently/more often
Imagine this conversation between 2 persons :-
Person A to Person B: This event never takes place.
Person B to Person A: This event is more common (meaning takes place at regular intervals) than you ...
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“The most of” as in “the biggest portion”?
I am not sure if this type of usage of “the most of” is correct.
If someone can help clarify, I would really appreciate it.
Ex: Out of the three siblings, John received the most of the estate their ...
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