Comparisons

[Anon]

X is any better than Y

or

X is any better than is Y

or

X is any better than Y is


which one is correct...

Please help...

Thanks
Anon

[RonPurewal]

in formal written english, none of those constructions is acceptable.

'any better' is strictly informal, and, even in the context of informal (spoken) language, it is still generally seen in only 2 contexts:
* negative statements (i don't think x is any better than y)
* questions (is x any better than y?)
in other words, no one will make a declarative statement such as 'x is any better than y.'

--

of those three choices, though, the one in the middle is definitely the most bizarre: it's a hybrid of very informal language ('any better') and very formal language ('...than is...'). that's just weird.

[gmatter_2008]

Hi Ron,

Just out of curiosity (NO OFFENCE MEANT)

In ur explanation u used "None of these constructions is acceptable'

But shouldnt the clause be "None of these constructions are accepatable'

Because in a SANAM pronoun (as per MAN SC guide ) the verb in these clauses should agree with the number of the noun following "Of" (in this case constuctions)


Thanks

[CD]

What about

X is better than Y vs.
X is better than Y is

OR,

He is smarter than she vs
He is smarter than she is

[RonPurewal]

Hi Ron,

Just out of curiosity (NO OFFENCE MEANT)

In ur explanation u used "None of these constructions is acceptable'

But shouldnt the clause be "None of these constructions are accepatable'

Because in a SANAM pronoun (as per MAN SC guide ) the verb in these clauses should agree with the number of the noun following "Of" (in this case constuctions)


Thanks

of course there's no offense; this forum is designed expressly for questions like yours. silly gmatter_2008.

'none' is an exception to that rule; it is generally considered acceptable in either singular or plural form, although the most commonly accepted formal usage is, perhaps surprisingly, singular (as in the sentence i wrote).
some sources swear by the singular alone, whereas others accept either. (i have never seen a reputable source indicate that 'none' should always be plural.)

[RonPurewal]

What about

X is better than Y vs.
X is better than Y is

OR,

He is smarter than she vs
He is smarter than she is

in general, the second 'is' is unnecessary, and should be omitted, UNLESS
1) it is needed to resolve ambiguity, or
2) the two parts of the parallel construction are obnoxiously long, to the point where the parallel construction itself is difficult to follow without that extra little word.

neither 1) nor 2) is true in the cases above, so the first version of each is preferable.

comforting fact: the test will NOT require you to choose between two grammatically correct and sensible alternatives, unless one of the two is wordy to the point of ridiculousness.
so if you see two choices that differ ONLY in the presence/absence of a 'little word', it is very likely that the little word disposes of some sort of ambiguity. look hard.
if you have the o.g. verbal supplement, look at problem number 106, in which the correct answer really does differ from one of the alternatives by one little word (which eliminates the ambiguity present in the incorrect choice)
nb: don't post details of the o.g. problem here. thank you.