Re: Comparison of sentences

Den 16. okt. 2006 kl. 15.57 skrev caeruleancentaur:

> No, it doesn't help, but thanks for trying.
>
> Let me see if I can explain my problem more clearly.
>
> 1. I sat at my desk
> 2. longer than
> 3. the day has hours
>
> 1. I sat at my desk
> 2. for a time longer than
> 3. the day has hours
>
> Are these two independent clauses or is #3 a dependent clause?
I'd say the latter.

> I am heavier
> than ("in comparison to" in Senjecas)
> he (him)
>
> In this structure "he (him)" is the object of the
> postposition "than."
>
> In the previous example there is no noun or pronoun to be the
> object of "than."
>
> And that is my problem.  How do I express "comparative + than" when
> it links two clauses & not two substantives?  It seem to me that
> what is being compared is "I sat" & "day has."
You could perhaps analyse it to say "I sat at my desk for a time
longer than the hours of the day." Then you have two nouns, clearly.

The original English sentence is basically trying to compare an
adverb (long-er) and relating it to a dependent clause. If your
language can put a comparative marker on the adverb and a relative
marker on the verb of the dependent clause, it should be able to
handle it, I think.

Isn't "than" usually viewed as a conjuction, BTW? Not sure, English
grammar is not my strong point.

LEF