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Is it wrong to use more.. than structure before verbs?

For example :

They more talk than work.

This product has been more produced than consumed.

I want to more take action than make plans.

I like more reading books than watching TV

ColleenV
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belinda
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    The only one of your examples which is grammatical is #2, though the actual example is not a particularly good one, since we would not say there was oversupply in that manner. They talk more than (they) work. I want to take action more than make plans. I like reading books more than watching TV. You can substitute prefer. I prefer reading books to watching TV. I prefer taking action over making plans. – TimR Sep 02 '16 at 11:51
  • This is a good question. Mostly I I don't think we use this structure with verbs, but I can imagine saying something like: He ran right over - well, more "walked" than "ran". But that's kind of a special case. – stangdon Sep 02 '16 at 12:59
  • I'd say 'I like reading books more than watching TV.' – Anca Pedvis Mar 05 '17 at 06:36

1 Answers1

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I would just like to give some insights to the construct. In a colloquial sense, some of these may be uttered in practice, but the corrected form are as follows.

  1. They talk more than they work
  2. The product has been produced more than it is consumed
  3. I want to take more actions than to make plans
  4. I like reading more books than watching TV.

When used along with a sentence in such as the above "more...than" does not come in the way you construct it to be.

Phrased in an active (but slightly different) way, example 2 can be written as

The company produces more products than it can sell

The word 'sell' would refer to the consumption by customers

If the verb for both instances connected with 'more' and 'than' are the same, then you might get something like this:

  1. They talk more Spanish than English
  2. The company produce more furniture than appliances
  3. I want to do more action than planning
  4. I like reading more than watching

In all cases, 'more' appears only after the verb.

Ébe Isaac
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  • I agree with your answer save for your wording for #3; I see that one as: I want to take action more than make plans. – J.R. Mar 05 '17 at 07:58
  • @J.R. Thank you for your kind suggestion; you may make the edit to the answer as you please. – Ébe Isaac Mar 05 '17 at 16:10