You would know that there are three types of dependent clauses – noun, relative (or adjective), and adverb. But there exists fourth, comparative clause, which is a modifier like relative and adverb clause. It’s not a noun clause. It’s not a relative clause, It’s not an adverb clause. It’s a different clause altogether, belonging to the same hierarchical level as that of the other three.
1. What is comparative clause?
Consider this sentence:
Tom is as strong as a heavyweight boxer is.
In this sentence, the statement that Tom is strong is being compared with another statement that heavyweight boxer is strong. The clause as a heavyweight boxer is with which comparison is made is called comparative clause.
There are three types of comparative clauses: equivalence, nonequivalence, and sufficiency and excess. Let’s take each one by one.
1.1. Comparative clause of equivalence
In the above case, the comparison is equal since Tom is being treated equally (on strength) with a heavyweight boxer. Such comparisons are made by correlative as…as. Comparative clauses of equivalence, also called equational comparative clauses, are introduced by subordinating conjunction as, which is second of the two as in the correlative. (First as is not part of the comparative clause.)
1.2. Comparative clause of nonequivalence
But comparisons need not be equal. In these sentences, for example, Tom has not been treated equally with a heavyweight boxer.
Tom is less strong than a heavyweight boxer is.
Tom is stronger than a heavyweight boxer is.
Such unequal comparisons are made by correlatives more…than and less…than. But where a comparative (stronger) is available, comparative plus than is used. Comparative clauses of nonequivalence, also called differentiating comparative clauses, are introduced by subordinating conjunction than. (Note that more, less, and comparative (-er) are not part of a comparative clause.)
The phrase that follows more, less, or as is mostly an adjective or adverb, but it can be a noun phrase as well, like in John owns more records than his friend does.
Comparative clauses of equivalence and nonequivalence often repeat the structure of the preceding clause; therefore, they can be ellipted. You can, for example, drop the verb is in above examples. So, these too are fine:
Tom is as strong as a heavyweight boxer.
Tom is less strong than a heavyweight boxer.
Tom is stronger than a heavyweight boxer.
Here are more examples of comparative clause of equivalence and nonequivalence, arranged as per number of variables in the sentence. So far, we’ve seen examples with only one variable.
One variable
The new car is more fuel-efficient than the old model. [Variable: new car and old model]
He sings as beautifully as a professional opera singer.
Two variables
Alice cooks better Italian dishes than Robert does French cuisine. [Variable 1: Alice and Roberts/ Variable 2: Italian dishes and French cuisine.]
Sarah performs better in math exams than Michael does in science tests.
Three variables
Samantha paints landscapes more beautifully than James sketches portraits. [Variable 1: Samantha and James/ Variable 2: paints and sketches/ Variable 3: landscapes and portraits.]
Sarah designs websites more creatively than John creates apps.
1.3. Comparative clause of sufficiency and excess
These clauses express sufficiency and excess. They too compare, but less intuitively than the other two comparative clauses. Unlike the other two, the clause doesn’t follow the structure of the preceding clause, and hence can’t be ellipted. They can be categorized into types, depending on words that convey sufficiency and excess:
Enough and too
Such clauses usually contain the word enough (to denote sufficiency) or too (to denote excess) followed by an infinitive phrase of purpose, result, or condition. Here are few examples. The first four are of sufficiency; the next three are of excess. Note that words similar in meaning to enough and too can also be used.
She practiced enough to win the competition.
The software updated quickly enough to fix the bugs before the demo.
She had sufficient funds to buy the new laptop.
The project had adequate resources to ensure its success.
The exam was too difficult to finish in the allotted time.
The meeting was too long to stay focused throughout.
The project was excessively complex to finish on time without a larger team.
So…that and such…that
Unlike the clauses containing enough and too, these are finite. They combine the meaning of sufficiency or excess with result. Here are few examples.
The exam was so difficult that many failed to finish it in allotted time.
[The comparative clause shows excess (so difficult) as well as result (many failed to finish it in allotted time). If you notice, this sentence is a paraphrase of The exam was too difficult to finish in the allotted time we saw earlier. In other words, enough-too and so…that-such…that constructions are linked.]
The room was so noisy that it was impossible to concentrate.
The problem was such a challenge that it required expert intervention.
The traffic was such a mess that we arrived at the event hours late.
So little interest was shown in the survey that it was deemed inconclusive.
2. Comparative clauses convey multiple meanings
Comparative clauses of equivalence and nonequivalence together with as, more, less, and –er (of comparative form) convey meaning of degree. Examples:
Emma writes essays more effectively than Jake solves math problems.
[more… than Jake solves math problems modifies effectively in the same way degree adverb very would modify effectively.]
She runs faster than I do.
[-er… than I do modifies fast in the same way degree adverb very would modify fast. An alternative way to arrive at the same conclusion is to replace faster with more fast.]
Comparative clauses of nonequivalence can convey meaning of preference. When conveying preference, such constructions take comparative adverb (faster, more readily) – and not comparative adjective – and take modal auxiliary in comparative as well as matrix clause. Examples:
He will prepare dinner faster than he will clean the kitchen. [He prefers preparing dinner over cleaning the kitchen. Note modal auxiliary will in both the clauses.]
I would switch on an entertainment channel faster than I would switch on an educative channel.
We’ve also seen in the last section that comparative clause of sufficiency and excess with correlatives so…that and such…that convey meaning of result.
Besides, they seem to convey meanings of similarity, comparison, and manner. The sentence She dances as gracefully as a ballerina does, for example, can be interpreted as she dances similar to a ballerina or she dances in the manner of a ballerina or her dance is comparable to dance of a ballerina.
Because of similarity in meaning, comparative clauses are confused with adverb clauses conveying the same meaning (of degree, preference, result, similarity, comparison, and manner). However, as mentioned at the beginning of the post, comparative clauses are distinct from other three dependent clauses. In other words, they’re not adverb clause. If they’re not adverb clause, then of course they can’t be adverb clause of degree or result or whatever.
You can’t call a comparative clause expressing degree as adverb clause of degree. Same goes with other meanings.
But you can call it
- comparative clause conveying degree or
- comparative clause of degree or
- clause of degree
Avoid calling it degree clause though as that’s usually used as short form of adverb clause of degree.
We saw that comparative clauses can convey meanings of degree, preference, result, similarity, comparison, and manner, but they’re not adverb clauses. Learn about adverb clauses that express these meanings:
- Adverb clause of degree
- Adverb clause of preference
- Adverb clause of result
- Adverb clause of similarity, comparison, and manner
3. What is comparative phrase?
The correlatives more…than and less…than do not always introduce comparative clauses. Subordinating conjunction than may be followed by a specific standard, usually represented by a noun phrase. Examples:
The car costs more than thirty thousand dollars.
Cheetah can run faster than 70 miles per hour.
She finished the race faster than her personal best time.
The experiment lasted longer than expected duration.
The above phrases are not elliptical clauses: You can’t expand the first sentence, for example, to:
The car costs more than thirty thousand dollars does. [Incorrect]
In such cases, than is treated as preposition, and the prepositional phrase is called comparative phrase. Elliptical comparative clauses that look like prepositional phrases though are not comparative phrases. In this sentence, for example, the underlined part is not a comparative phrase, even though it looks like a prepositional phrase. It’s an elliptical comparative clause.
The new software is more user-friendly than the previous version. [Comparative clause, and not comparative phrase]
