comparative adjective

tony823 · Post by **tony823** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 3:34 pm

One of my students asks me this grammar question.

The greater the surface of ski that is in contact with the ground, the easier _________.
（A） to control it （B）is to control （C）to control it is （D） it is to control

The answer is A.

She asks me why the answer is not D.

Does anyone have any idea?

Many thanks.

fluffyhamster · Post by **fluffyhamster** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 3:52 pm

My 'order of preference' is D, A, C. (Like Lolwhites I wouldn't accept B at all).

lolwhites · Post by **lolwhites** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 5:30 pm

The only answer I definitely would not accept is B. Where does the question come from?

fluffyhamster · Post by **fluffyhamster** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 6:50 pm

It's like the test writers have deliberately seperated out the expected elements ('it is to control' overlaps with 'to control it', except for the final, anaphoric 'it' there, as does 'to control it' with 'it is to control', minus the dummy subject 'it' and verb 'is'). I agree with lol that B is totally unacceptable, but I still think A is only marginally acceptable (and would not be accepted by most people); as for C, that is Yoda-speak here (but to-infinitive clauses can be subjects). All this leaves us still with D as the best choice.

lolwhites · Post by **lolwhites** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 7:57 pm

C looks a bit Yoda-like when you read it on the page, but try saying it out loud, experimenting with sentence stress and it might seem more reasonable.

Stephen Jones · Post by **Stephen Jones** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 8:12 pm

D is the only grammatically correct answer as far as I can tell. As lolwhtes says C is an inversion that would be OK in speech.

woodcutter · Post by **woodcutter** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 12:11 am

Sounds a bit over prescriptive SJ. I don't think anyone would worry too much about A. So it isn't "ungrammatical".

saerf · Post by **saerf** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 4:01 am

Did you consider that the answer given is incorrect? If the answer is "A" then the sentence would not be parallel and both sides of a comparative adjective must be parallel.

lolwhites · Post by **lolwhites** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 7:56 am

If the answer is "A" then the sentence would not be parallel and both sides of a comparative adjective must be parallel.

Since when? And don't you mean "symmetrical"?

Stephen Jones · Post by **Stephen Jones** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 6:24 pm

The problem with A is that it leaves the whole sentence without a main clause.

saerf · Post by **saerf** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 3:00 am

lolwhite,
I've haven't heard the term symmetrical before. The only term I'm familiar with is parallel. Coordinating conjunctions and comparatives require parallel structures on each side. For example:
"blue and interesting" doesn't work because "interesting" is not a color
"neither the movie nor seeing a play" doesn't work because "seeing" is a gerund form of a noun rather than a simple noun

I'd like to hear more about your term "symmetrical".

woodcutter · Post by **woodcutter** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 3:16 am

Mmm, see what you mean SJ. Make a shorter sentence like "the bigger the ski, the easier to control it" and it becomes more uncomfortable.

However, if I am correct, and the vast majority of native speakers would not identify A as wrong, is A ungrammatical, in your opinion?