Author Topic: Differentiating the use of "than" and "than that of"  (Read 55786 times)

Joe Carillo

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Differentiating the use of "than" and "than that of"
« on: October 02, 2010, 12:00:44 AM »
Question from Forces20, Forum member (September 30, 2010):

Hello, Sir Joe!

Kindly help me understand the difference between “than” and “than that of” in achieving a logical and clear comparison.

Let’s consider this sentence as an example:

“As a teacher, his salary is even less than that of a driver.”
 
Why shouldn’t the sentence above be written instead as “As a teacher, his salary is even less than a driver.”

Also the sentence below:

“The new library is undoubtedly well-stocked and functional but no one can say that its atmosphere is like the old one.”

This should be revised as follows:

“The new library is undoubtedly well-stocked and functional but no one can say that its atmosphere is like that of the old one.”

My reply to Forces20:

The fundamental difference between the comparatives “than” and “than that of” is in the nature of the elements being compared. We use “than of” when we compare two objects or things directly with each other, as in “Your laptop is more powerful than my laptop” or, more succinctly, “Your laptop is more powerful than mine.” On the other hand, we use “than that of” when we compare not the two objects or things directly but an attribute, possession, or part of theirs, as in “The processor of your laptop is more powerful than that of mine.” This particular comparative construction is, of course, an elliptical, more succinct version of this sentence: “The processor of your laptop is more powerful than the processor of my laptop.” The pointing pronoun “that” takes the place of the name of the thing whose attribute, possession, or part is being compared with that of another’s, and the pronoun “mine” takes the place of the name of the other thing involved in the comparison.

                                                            IMAGE CREDIT: BY MISS KITTY ON TWITTER.COM

Take note that if we simply use “than” instead of “than that of” when comparing the attribute, possession, or part of two objects or things, a semantic problem or ambiguity in meaning might result, as in this grammatically flawed construction: “The processor of your laptop is more powerful than mine.” Here, it’s not clear if the pronoun “mine” refers to the processor of the other person’s laptop or to his or her laptop itself. The use of the form “than that of” clarifies that ambiguity: “The processor of your laptop is more powerful than that of mine.”

Applying these considerations to the sentences you presented, we find that the sentence “As a teacher, his salary is even less than a driver” is grammatically flawed because it is illogically comparing the teacher’s salary to the driver, not to the driver’s salary. The comparative form “less than that of” fixes the problem: “As a teacher, his salary is even less than that of a driver.”
 
The same is true, of course, with the other sentence construction you presented that uses the comparative “like the old one”: “The new library is undoubtedly well-stocked and functional but no one can say that its atmosphere is like the old one.” It wrongly compares the atmosphere of the new library with the old library itself, when the real comparison should be between the atmospheres of both. The use of the comparative form “like that of” corrects and clarifies that comparison: “The new library is undoubtedly well-stocked and functional but no one can say that its atmosphere is like that of the old one.”

We must keep in mind, though, that the use of the form “than that of” may not be necessary in some comparative constructions involving possessives. Take a look at these two examples: “Albert’s grade in science is higher than Bert’s.” (The version that uses “than that of” for the comparison is cumbersome and awkward-sounding: “Albert’s grade in science is higher than that of Bert.”) “Our basketball team’s record is more impressive than our competitor’s.” (This is more concise and much better-sounding than “Our basketball team’s record is more impressive than that of our competitor.”)
« Last Edit: June 08, 2022, 07:21:32 PM by Joe Carillo »