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Anonymous Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
About Comparative Ellipsis
I believe these four sentences below are grammatically correct and mean the same, even if they might sound so unnaturally that you would write otherwise. Am I right? If not, which cannot be called correct, and why?
1 These problems turn out to be more difficult than they thought that they were.
2 These problems turn out to be more difficult than they thought.
3 These problems turn out to be more difficult than it was thought that they were.
4 These problems turn out to be more difficult than it was thought.
1 These problems turn out to be more difficult than they thought that they were.
2 These problems turn out to be more difficult than they thought.
3 These problems turn out to be more difficult than it was thought that they were.
4 These problems turn out to be more difficult than it was thought.
Top answer
All are wrong, I’m afraid. This is correct: These problems turned out to be more difficult than they thought (they would [ turn out to be ]). But I recommend this: These problems turned out to be more difficult than expected.
- All are wrong, I’m afraid.
- This is correct: These problems turned out to be more difficult than they thought (they would [ turn out to be ]).
- But I recommend this: These problems turned out to be more difficult than expected.
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2 Answers
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All are wrong, I’m afraid.
This is correct:
These problems turned out to be more difficult than they thought (they would [turn out to be]).
But I recommend this:
These problems turned out to be more difficult than expected.
This is correct:
These problems turned out to be more difficult than they thought (they would [turn out to be]).
But I recommend this:
These problems turned out to be more difficult than expected.
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Aspara Gus But I recommend this:These problems turned out to be more difficult than expected.Good advice!
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