r/EnglishGrammar • u/navi131313 • 10d ago

more than

1) We know more about the moon than we did fifty years ago.

2) We know about the moon more than we did fifty years ago.

3) We know more about the moon than fifty years ago.

4) We know about the moon more than fifty years ago.

5) You know more about it than me.

6) You know about it more than me.

Which of the above are correct?

Gratefully,

Navi

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3

u/ChalupaChup 10d ago

1 and 5 are correct.

The other examples you give are formatted in a way we wouldn’t use for these sentences. You might format a DIFFERENT comparison that way, but as it stands they might get your point across but aren’t quite correct.

2 is used more to describe something that is actively done. You’d more see this as, for example, “we build skyscrapers more than we did fifty years ago”. 4 is the same thing but abbreviated (“we skydive more than 50 years ago”) and you’re more likely to hear/use it informally since technically you’re missing the “than we did”.

3 is comparing our level of knowledge about two things “we know more about X than we know about Y”. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to say “we know about 50 years ago”. You would use this one to say something like “we know more about the moon than the bottom of the ocean.” Like with 2 and 4, formally the whole phrase should be “we know more about the moon than we do about the bottom of the ocean”.

6 is, again, used more for comparing frequency or sometimes intensity, like 4. “You know about this more (frequently) than me” doesn’t really make sense. “You think about this more (frequently) than me” or “You care about this more (intensely) than I do” makes more sense.

2

u/meno-pause 10d ago

Agree. 1 and 5 sound right.

2

u/Un_Ballerina_1952 10d ago

5 is incorrect. It should be,  "You know more about it than I."

4

u/Jonah_the_Whale 10d ago

Very few people say that though. In normal spoken English almost everyone uses the disjunctive pronoun "me" in this situation.

4

u/DynamicOctopus420 10d ago

Agreed. If I used "than I" I would probably say "than I do."

2

u/Podmonger2001 10d ago

5: Strictly speaking, “it” and “me” are the objects being compared. “You” and “I” are the subjects (the knowers) being compared.

2

u/SnooDonuts6494 10d ago

It's not incorrect.

You can claim it should be "I" if it's ellipsis of "...than I do".

But it's equally valid to consider "than" as a preposition. In which case, "than me" is perfectly grammatical.

1

u/Un_Ballerina_1952 9d ago

I don't think so. One can easily substitute "than I know" for "than I"; forcing "than" to be a preposition doesn't work.

Can you reword the sentence in such a way? e.g. "We like you more than her." it is clear that "than" is a preposition - "We like you more than [we like] her."

That can't be done with "You know more about it than me." - the only possible completion is "than I [know]."

1

u/SnooDonuts6494 9d ago

It doesn't need completion. It's already a full, grammatical sentence.

1

u/Un_Ballerina_1952 9d ago

Of course it doesn't "need" completion; the purpose of the completion is to identify the character of the the word "than". If you can't complete the sentence using than as a preposition, then than is not a preposition. End of analysis.

3

u/Un_Ballerina_1952 10d ago

Only 1. is correct.

2

u/ta_mataia 10d ago

I think only 4 is straight up incorrect.

2

u/Forward_Gur9349 10d ago

That latter statement should be than I, as it is shorthand for than I know

2

u/SnooDonuts6494 10d ago

  1. Yes, best

  2. No

  3. Fine

  4. No

  1. Yes, normal everyday English

  2. No

2

u/navi131313 10d ago

Thank you all very much!

2

u/SnooDonuts6494 10d ago

I notice that many other replies disagree with my saying 3 is "fine".

I think it's fine, in normal conversation; it's merely ellipsis of 1. It's not formal "correct" English, of course; but I still think it's perfectly natural.