ssilver0210 wrote:Think of it this way:

Which sounds better:

Jim studied twice as much as John to prepare for the GMAT.

or

Jim studied twice as much than John to prepare for the GMAT.

The first one is the idiomatic expression, and therefore the correct answer.

In other words, just remember "as much as," and not "as much than."

mkbigmoz wrote:My question is at the bottom of the spoiler. Thanks


Some historians estimate that in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, twice as much acreage was destroyed than had earlier been ravaged in Napoleon ’ s Moscow burnings of 1812 and the Great Fire of London of 1666 combined.


than had earlier been

than the amount that was earlier

over the amount that was previously

as had earlier been

as was


[spoiler][Show/hide explanation]

Correct: as had earlier been

The correct idiomatic form for this type of comparison (in which one item is twice or several times the other) is “ ____ as much . . . as ” or “ ____ as many . . . as ” . Eliminate (A).




Now lets assume that the sentence was written:

Some historians estimate that in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, twice as much acreage was destroyed than had earlier been ravaged in Napoleon ’ s Moscow burnings of 1812.


Would the sentence be correct because a comparison was made between only 2 fires? Im a bit confused on why "as had" is used as opposed to "than had." Looking forward to some help. [/spoiler]