Canadian Writer's Reference

pp. 97-98

There are some standard techniques in making good comparison sentences.

We can compare many different things in this world. We might compare an apple to a banana, in simple terms such as colour or shape ( as we might do in elementary school), or possibly in more complex terms such as nutritional value, economic purpose, or genetic composition.

We might compare an ATM machine to a human bank teller, a book to a movie. In some creative writing, it might appear that we are comparing things that seem very far apart, eg. a fish and a bridge, or a child and a bookshelf. The textbook says that we must compare things that are alike, and this is a good principle. In our strict academic writings, we tend to compare things that are clearly in the same category, eg. two rates of inflation, two microchips, two diseases. Sometimes it might appear that we are comparing two very different things, such as a house and a car, but actually we are comparing qualities or effects of the two things which are much more alike, eg. the cost of the house and the car. Similarity helps us to organize academic knowledge, and differences keep the investigation interesting and lively. The textbook says that it is "illogical and distracting" to compare unlike things. This may be showing extra conservatism, but the textbook is guiding us to a good place grammatically.

As we analyze our comparison writings carefully, we find that there are several fundamental techniques. We might say that a bicycle usually has two wheels, but a car usually has four wheels. We might say a banana is yellow, and an apple is red, or as we use the traditional (-er / is as-as) techniques, we might say a pineapple is bigger than an apple, or perhaps that an apple is as sweet as a banana.

On pp. 97 and 98 of your textbook, you find special advice on how to handle comparison sentences. In particular, the textbook is teaching us that in English we cannot truncate any compared item to its higher order object or source. We also cannot compare any object to itself. The textbook calls this "making your comparisons logical."

In fact, this might only be logical for some languages. There may be some languages that allow these structures without any problem.

Let's look at several examples of the first type (bottom of p. 97)

The streets of Winnipeg are dirtier than Singapore.

...........................................dirtier than those of Singapore.

My dog's hair is thicker than my cat.

.....................................than that of my cat.

Professor Griffin is married to one of the other professors at our school, and his exams are more difficult than his wife.

.........................................................................................................................................................than those of his wife.

Consider these examples of the second type.

This method of repairing a truncation involves converting some factor or phenomenon to a verb.

The death rate of frogs in South America is considerably higher than North American frogs.

Frogs are dying in South America at a considerably higher rate than North American frogs.

In the Bazugo culture, the intensity of female dances is much greater than males.

................................females dance with much greater intensity than males.

The cost of replacement for the X4 wheel is higher than the X5.

The X4 wheel costs more to replace than the X5.

Look at these examples of the third type.

This method involves adding apostrophe + s to the compared item.

Marvin's family is bigger than John.

.......................................... John's.

The Charter House's buffet is more expensive than Robinson.

........................................................................Robinson's.

The area of a tornado is typically much lower than a hurricane.

...........................................................................hurricane's.

To avoid the problem of comparing something to itself, we add the word other.

Wendy's has better food than every fast food chain.

................................................other fast food chain.

Collins Learner's Dictionary has the more clear definitions than all dictionaries.

....................................................................................... all other dictionaries.

Toronto is bigger than any city in Canada.

....................................other city in Canada.

Sometimes we use the passive voice to further clarify our comparison.

The marijuana grown in government laboratories is more pure than city police.

.............................................................................................that seized by city police.

Cars in North America are generally bigger than Europe.

...................................................................those built in Europe.

Food in a restaurant is usually more expensive than home.

................................................................... that made at home.