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Cup cake Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

Sooner than expected.

Hi Everyone,

I'm wondering how you'd explain the following sentence to a student:

'Brett got promoted sooner than expected.'

I'm anticipating someone asking me why we don't say this:

'Brett got promoted sooner than he expected.'

I know we can leave out - he - but why?

Thanks
CC Emotion: hi
  

Top answer

Cup cake I know we can leave out - he - but why? Because it is not what Brett expected, it is what other people expected to happen to Brett. If you put "he" in, then it is sooner than Brett expected.

— AlpheccaStars

  • Cup cake I know we can leave out - he - but why?
  • Because it is not what Brett expected, it is what other people expected to happen to Brett.
  • If you put "he" in, then it is sooner than Brett expected.
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4 Answers
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Cup cakeI know we can leave out - he - but why?
Because it is not what Brett expected, it is what other people expected to happen to Brett.
If you put "he" in, then it is sooner than Brett expected.
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Thanks AlpheccaStars. Emotion: rose

So it's all around the 'meaning' of the sentence. I thought there was some grammar rule to it. Lo
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Cup cakeBrett got promoted sooner than (anyone) expected.
I believe "anyone" is implicit.

CJ
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When you see difficult-to-explain constructions like this in English, the explanation is usually that ellipsis has been employed, that is, words have been left out for convenience or brevity and are understood from the context. The complete sentence might be something like:

"Brett got promoted sooner than it was expected that he would be promoted."

The words "it was" and "that
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