if not more so

Hi,

What's the meaning of "if not more so"?

'So' has several meanings. One is that it can be used in comparisons to replace a word or phrase. eg

Mary: My house is big.

Tom: My house is as big as yours, if not more so. (meaning 'My house is as big as yours, if not bigger'.)

Hello guys.

Clive your are absolutely right, and I just want to add a few things in order for you(the one who posted the t

But X11, only the word "big" is represented by "so" in the example "if not more so", so how can this be clausal substitution?

CJ

Hi guys,

Yes, X11, you can certainly use 'so' as a substitute for a clause. I started to write my original reply in those terms, but then deleted it because the example here seems to me to be a simpler, non-clausal case. Perhaps I shouldn't have deleted that part of my reply, so thank you for bringing it up.

Best wishes, Clive

Calif Jim - no matter whether it is a whole sentence or just one word, the grammatical name for this phenomenon is still clausal substitution. But I see your point. I hope that I am not on a completely wrong track here.

Jay.

Best Wishes to you too Clive.

Hi X11 (or can I just call you 'X'?),

Well, perhaps you could try to argue that

My house is as big as yours, if not more so.

is a shortened form of

My house is as big as yours, if my house is not bigger than yours.

Best wishes, Clive

You can just call me X

Yes what you have written is correct. I tried to come up with this earlier but I could noy figure it

As MrP says,

<emoticon of straw just out of reach of a hand>

'My house is as big as yours, if not bigger'

if not bigger?what does it mean in the sentence?

Hi,

'My house is as big as yours, if not bigger'

if not bigger?what does it mean in the sentence?

The whole sentence means that my house is at least as big as yours, but I think it is in fact bigger.

Best wishes, Clive