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CharmYou Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

How to make a hypothetical comparison?

How to make a hypothetical comparison?
1. I'll be happier if I quit smoking than I'll be if I don't quit smoking.
2. I'll be happier quitting smoking than I'll be not quitting smoking.
Which one sounds better?

I read this sentence.
It could be putting him more at risk getting him immunized than I could be not doing it.
I don't understand why this sentence says "than I could be", I think it would make more sense if it were "than he could be". It could be putting him more at risk getting him immunized than he could be not doing it.
  

Top answer

1. 2. Which one sounds better?

— GPY

  • 1.
  • 2.
  • Which one sounds better?
  • The first one implies that the resulting situation after you quit will be preferable, whereas the second one seems to be saying that the actual process of quitting will be preferable.
  • Probably the first is what you mean.
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6 Answers
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CharmYouHow to make a hypothetical comparison?1. I'll be happier if I quit smoking than I'll be if I don't quit smoking.2. I'll be happier quitting smoking than I'll be not quitting smoking.Which one sounds better?
The first one implies that the resulting situation after you quit will be preferable, whereas the second one seems to be saying that the actua
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Maybe it could be grammatical within context?
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Oh, OK, I think the speaker just sort of forgot how the sentence started by the time she got to the end. It's easily enough done in conversation. It looks worse written down as we tend to have higher demands for structural correctness in written English.
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Thanks a lot.
So how would you normally say it grammatically ?
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Looking again, I suppose we could try simply changing the mismatched "It ... I ..." to "It ... it ..." or "I ... I ...". It still doesn't seems a great sentence though. I don't find the structure "it/I could be ... than it/I could be ..." very satisfactory. Another idea might be "Getting him immunized could be putting him more at risk than not getting him immunized."
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GPYLooking again, I suppose we could try simply changing the mismatched "It ... I ..." to "It ... it ..." or "I ... I ...". It still doesn't seems a great sentence though. I don't find the structure "it/I could be ... than it/I could be ..." very satisfactory. Another idea might be "Getting him immunized could be putting him more at risk than not getting him immunized."
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