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Park sang joon Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
How much less is~
The protagonist, Philip, who was born with a club foot, moved in with his uncle Mr. Carey, the Vicar of Blackstable after his mother's death.
He dropped out of King's School at Tercanbury, came to Germany, and got several private teachings.
The following is about his teacher of French Monsieur Ducroz from Geneva.
Philip gave him a paid vacation because he looks ill.
...........................
Philip was vaguely disappointed. Thinking he had done a generous thing, he had expected that Monsieur Ducroz would overwhelm him with expressions of gratitude. He was taken aback to find that the old teacher accepted the present as though it were his due. He was so young, he did not realise how much less is the sense of obligation in those who receive favours than in those who grant them.
[Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham]
I was wondering if it is because "how much less" is the complement of "is" that "is" is located after "how much less," not before "in those."
Thank you in advance for your help.
He dropped out of King's School at Tercanbury, came to Germany, and got several private teachings.
The following is about his teacher of French Monsieur Ducroz from Geneva.
Philip gave him a paid vacation because he looks ill.
...........................
Philip was vaguely disappointed. Thinking he had done a generous thing, he had expected that Monsieur Ducroz would overwhelm him with expressions of gratitude. He was taken aback to find that the old teacher accepted the present as though it were his due. He was so young, he did not realise how much less is the sense of obligation in those who receive favours than in those who grant them.
[Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham]
I was wondering if it is because "how much less" is the complement of "is" that "is" is located after "how much less," not before "in those."
Thank you in advance for your help.
Top answer
Assuming you are referring to the first instance of "in those", both word orders work, and they mean the same thing.
- Assuming you are referring to the first instance of "in those", both word orders work, and they mean the same thing.
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7 Answers
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Assuming you are referring to the first instance of "in those", both word orders work, and they mean the same thing.
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... sorry, though as you have highlighted the second "in those", perhaps you do mean before that one? It is not grammatical to put "is" there.
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Thank you, GPY, for your So very kind answer. 
I'm so sorry for my terrible mistake.
He was so young, he did not r
I'm so sorry for my terrible mistake.
He was so young, he did not r
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park sang joonThen I'd like to know if it is possible because "how less" is the complement of "is.""much less" is the complement of "is" in the sense that the plain affirmative would be "the sense of obligation is much less ...". The following are both allowed:
he did not realise how much less is the sense of obligation ...
he did
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GPY"much less" is the complement of "is" in the sense that the plain affirmative would be "the sense of obligation is much less ...".Sorry, very strictly this does not seem true since "much" is tied to "how". However, it doesn't really affect the main point.
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Thank you, GPY, for your continuing support.
Sorry, very strictly this does not seem true since "much" is tied to "
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park sang joonI was wondering why that "less" is tied to "how" might cause "less" not to be the complement.I think "how" merely modifies the adjective "less."I didn't mean that "(how much) less" was not the complement, just that "much less" was not, since "much" is tied to "how".
park sang joonI think "how more" is the object of "cost"
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