[Corpora-List] Use of -er comparatives in English Language-Learner corpora

Brett Reynolds brett.reynolds at humber.ca
Thu Jan 21 20:24:07 UTC 2010


In the COCA, comparative adjectives such as 'bigger', 'higher', and 'happier' tend to occur in implied comparisons without 'than' or 'as' (e.g., "This seemed to make the jowly old man even happier.")

My impression is that grammar books for English language learners focus on 'than' constructions and ignore the implied comparisons, perhaps because use of 'than' is seen as more difficult. Does anybody have any language-learner-corpus data indicating how often ELLs use this implied form as opposed to the explicit 'than' form?

Best,
Brett

<http://english-jack.blogspot.com>

-----------------------
Brett Reynolds
English Language Centre
Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
brett.reynolds at humber.ca



Best,
Brett

-----------------------
Brett Reynolds
English Language Centre
Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
brett.reynolds at humber.ca





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