more

Question

In the use of 'more' as the adverb as in the example below,

e.g. He's more like a film star than a life-guard, really.

more is equivalent in meaning to instead or rather than according to the dictionary.

And I can't assure myself that the proposition, he is indeed a life-guard, is drawn out from the original example.

So when people say the sentences with using more in its 'rather than' sense, is there something to be implied automatically?

e.g. He's more like a film star than a life-guard, really.
--> He is indeed a life guard as his job (?)

She was more proud than vain.
--> She was indeed vain (?)

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

One of the uses of the word "more" is in contrasts, and in such instances you have the construction: .....more....than.... It's this particular structure, ...more...than..., that alerts you to the intended meaning. This is what you have in the two examples you listed:

He's [more] like a film star [than] a life-guard, really. What this means is that although he works as a lifeguard, the impression he gives is that he's a movie star, that is, he's very good-looking, charismatic, popular, etc.

She was [more] proud [than] vain. This sentence actually doesn't make sense, because proud and vain mean the same thing, and with the construction, ....more...than..., you are supposed to have a contrast between unlike things. A valid sentence using this ...more...than... construction is: She was more like a single woman than a mother. That is, to look at her you would have thought she was a single girl rather than a happily married housewife with 4 kids.

Some other examples of this ...more...than...construction:

He was more a player than a coach. That is, he was the coach but in practices he would work out with the players just like he was one of them.

He was more like an ordinary student than valedictorian. That is, he was valedictorian but to look at him you would never have guessed it; he seemed like an ordinary student, not nerdy at all.

He was more clever than intelligent. That is, he was sharp but he didn't have the kind of mentality that translates to good academic achievement.

Cho7712 · Answer

Thank you for the answer.
I am not that suspcious sort of person
but the last example seems to be slightly contradictory with your suggested answer. Or else I should be wrong.

AnonymousHe was more clever than intelligent. That is, he was sharp but he didn't have the kind of mentality that translates to good academic achievement.

I thought the meaning of clever is expressed as the word 'sharp'. So it seems confusing.
What do you think about it?

Anonymous · Answer

You have a contrast here between the words clever and intelligent. These mean different things. For example, car thief might be very clever at bypassing alarm systems and breaking into cars, but this kind of mental acuity (sharpness) would not translate into him being able to get a degree in electrical or mechanical engineering, for example.

There has to be a contrast in order to use the ...more...than...construction. So you could not say, for example:

He's more sharp than clever. (Sharp and clever mean the same thing.)

He's more intellectual than intelligent. (Intellectual and intelligent mean the same thing.)

Note that the contrast has to be rather subtle, not black and white: he's more something than something. For example, you can't use the ...more.. than... construction as follows:

He's more smart than stupid. Smart and stupid mean different things, but this this is too hamfisted a contrast. The ...more...than...construction is not used like this.

However you could say: He's more lazy than stupid. That is, he appears stupid because he's lazy.

Cho7712 · Answer

Thank you for the answer.
This is quite a specific explanation. And it surely helps a lot.
So the main things drawn from your answesr would be these two ;
a. Things compared must be similiar to each other as well as retain a slightly different feature from each other.
b. The subject is understood as having the two qualities or anything compared, but it is only by the speaker's view or opinion. No actual suggestion that the subject is or has really something is made.
Are my summaries of your answer so far right?

And this should not be considered as anything to downgrade your answers, like I said at the very first time your answer is just as good an explanation as can be. It just from my thought that it would be more reassuring to know that the answers are from a native speaker.

Anonymous · Answer

This ...more...than...construction is actually quite subtle and sophisticated, and is very difficult to explain clearly to a non-native speaker. As a native English speaker I know all of its uses by instinct and never thought about it before, until I read your post. This is not a comparison per se but rather a contrast between things are different, but not too different.

As an example of how subtle this ...more.. than... construction is, in your first post you had the sentence, "She was more proud than vain." I interpreted this as an error, but now that I think about it this is okay. Proud and vain are similar but different enough to qualify for the ...more...than...construction. What this is saying is that she's a very proud person and that that pride can be mistaken for vanity.

a. Yes, your comment seems about right.

b. No, the subject actually has only one of the qualities but appears to have both. For example, the man is a lifeguard only, not a movie star, but nevertheless he's more like a movie star than a lifeguard because of his good looks, charisma, popularity, etc. The woman is proud only, not actually vain, but her pride makes people think she's vain. Etc.

Cho7712 · Answer

Thank you for the answer.
As you said it, subtleness in more....than construction under discussion seems more than subtle.
And I understand its meaning and use in a rough way,in particular this part of your answer seems to play a part in reflecting subtleness.

Anonymous the man is a lifeguard only, not a movie star

The woman is proud only, not actually vain, but her pride makes people think she's vain. Etc.

The former one is derived from the sentence, 'He is more like a movie star than a lifeguard'
and the latter one from 'she was more proud than vain'.
The contrast shown between your two analyses is quite apparent.
With the noun complement, the subject is tied to a farther one
and the adjective complement case, the subject to a closer one.
Then the only factor to bring about this distinction seems to be the word class, the matter of noun or adjective.
Is this a part of the native's intuition or do I get your answer wrong?

Anonymous · Answer

Yes, there are several possible structures in this ....more...than...construction. For example:

He's more like a movie star than a lifeguard. (He's actually a lifeguard, but he looks like a movie star. Note the prepositional phrase here.)

She's more proud than vain. (She's actually proud, which seems like vanity.)

He's more a player than a coach. (He's actually the coach, but he works out with the players like one of them.)

He's more clever than intelligent. (He's clever, not really intelligent.)

Cho7712 · Answer

Thank you for the answer. It is a good and sufficient answer.
I am really grateful for your effort and time.

more

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions