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Does comparison always compare the subject of two clause?

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Does comparison always compare the subject of two clause?

by rx_11 » Mon Nov 29, 2010 1:07 am
Hi, everyone,

I feel very frustrated about comparison because I can't find which part of the sentense is set to compare. For example, I always think the eg1 is correct because it is comparing the money, not the "I"&"you"

1. eg. I have less money than the money of yours.

However, experts have pointed out that this sentense is wrong because it incorrectly compare "I" & "money". We should change this sentense to:

2. eg. I have less money than you (do).

Correct.

So if a sentense is following the Subject+Verb+Object structure, then the sentense seems unable to compare the object. Is that true?? Moreover, I find all comparisons are used to compare their subject, and I could not find out any exceptions. Any experts can confirm it??
Last edited by rx_11 on Tue Nov 30, 2010 12:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by karanrulz4ever » Mon Nov 29, 2010 9:34 am
Always ask yourself what are you comparing logically.

In ur example, you are comparing me and you.So the 2nd option is right.

But consider this: My house is bigger than you. : Doesnt make sense. It should be : My house is bigger than your's.
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by rishab1988 » Mon Nov 29, 2010 12:54 pm
IT is not necessary that you can only compare only subjects or only nouns.This example is similar to an OG 12 SC question.It is one of the toughest comparison questions.

There were twice as many UFO sightings in 2001 as in 1950.

See I made a comparison between prepositions in 2001 and in 1950

It comparison being made is between the number sightings in 2001 and the number of sightings in 1950.

You can also say :

There were twice as many UFO sightings in 2001 as were in 1950.

But in some cases you have to repeat the verb because without it the comparison might become ambiguous.

A cheetah can catch a deer much faster than a tiger

The above is ambiguous because the sentence could have 2 meanings:

Cheetah can catch a tiger in less time than a cheetah can catch a deer.

or

Cheetah can catch a deer in less time than a tiger can

To clarify you use the verb

For you intended to say the former,you say:

A cheetah can catch a deer much faster than a tiger can.

If you intend to say the latter,you say:

A cheetah can catch a deer much faster than it can catch a tiger. [it is not ambiguous;it logically refers to cheetah]
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by Amit@EconomistGMAT » Wed Dec 01, 2010 5:00 am
In addition to all of the above, note that comparisons usually involve ellipsis, that is, omitting a part of the sentence which logically should be there, but is repeating what has already been said:
  • Full: John runs a mile faster than Jack runs a mile.
    Ellipsis: John runs a mile faster than Jack.
  • Full: There were twice as many UFO sightings in 2001 as there were UFO sightings in 1950.
    Ellipsis: There were twice as many UFO sightings in 2001 as there were in 1950.
    Ellipsis: There were twice as many UFO sightings in 2001 as in 1950.
Both formats are grammatically correct, but ellipsis is commonly used to make sentences shorter. So in the third option you are not quite comparing "in 2001" and "in 1950"; it's just a shortened version. You are comparing how many UFO sightings there were in 2001 to how many there were in 1950. However, in some cases, the items compared are not even partially similar, so ellipsis is not an option:
  • Full: There were twice as many UFO sightings in 2001 as there were Yeti encounters in 1967.
Amit Moshe
Verbal Section Instructor
Economist GMAT
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by EducationAisle » Wed Dec 01, 2010 6:50 am
rx_11 wrote:
1. eg. I have less money than the money of yours.

However, experts have pointed out that this sentense is wrong because it incorrectly compare "I" & "money".
Well, the following sentence would be correct:

I have fewer cars than the number of cars you have.

This is not comparing I with the number of cars.
Ashish
MBA - ISB, GMAT - 99th Percentile
GMAT Faculty @ EducationAisle
www.EducationAisle.com

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