More than

Posted by R. Berg on August 24, 2003

In Reply to: More than (typo corrected) posted by tk on August 24, 2003

: : : Hello. Let me ask you a question about more than.

: : : I think in the following sentence the verb comes after "more than" need agreement with the subject.

: : : 1. It shows that women have done more than be house wives.

: : :
: : : I would rather guess
: : :
: : : 1. It shows that women have done more than have been house wives.

: : : is a correct one.
: : : How do you think of this?

: : The first sentence is correct and the second one isn't. Similarly, we say "The president did more than sign papers" and "When hotel maids clean a room, they will do more than make the beds."

:
: Thank you for your very prompt answer.
: I would like to ask the reason the verb coming after more than always takes original form.
: Is it because your conscious focuses on the future, i.e. what you will do next?

As a native English speaker, I haven't had to think about the reason. When I try to think about it now, the closest I can come to an answer is that "be housewives" and "sign papers" are used in the place of nouns in the example sentences. Although "than" is a conjunction, it is used as a preposition in sentences like those. "Be housewives" is the object of this preposition.

• More than ESC 24/August/03