Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

sejpdw · Joined: 26 Oct 2005 Posts: 217 Location: Korea

What's the difference between two?

1. Men always earned about $ 4,000 more than women.
2. Men always earned more than $4,000 than women.

bud · Joined: 09 Mar 2003 Posts: 2111 Location: New Jersey, US

#2 is incorrect. It would have to be, "Men always earned more than $4,000 more than women." And that would be an awkward sentence because of the repetition of "more than."

But with the correction, the difference in meaning is:

1. Maybe a little more than $4,000, or maybe a little less.
2. Always more than $4,000.