Re: ANADEWISM: Natlangs that do comparison with true verbs?

I wrote:

 > Man is inferior to wolf in ferocity.
 > (I'm not sure about the choice of the preposition "in" in that
 > last English sentence; is that correct?)

Keith Gaughan wrote:

 > Perfect english.

Carsten Becker wrote:

 > René: Maybe it would have been better to choose "as for"
 > instead of the second "is". Maybe it would have been
 > better, too, to say "was seine Wildheit betrifft" (what
 > concerns his ferocity) instead of "in seiner Wildheit".

Thanks for your remarks!

I wasn't sure whether I could say:

Man is inferior to wolf in ferocity.
Man is inferior to wolf with respect to ferocity.
Man is inferior to wolf as concerns ferocity.

Carsten suggests if I understand correctly:

Man is inferior to wolf as for ferocity.
Man is inferior to wolf what concerns his ferocity.

My dictionary lists "as concerns" as a synonym for "in respect to";
should I have used that instead?

Man is inferior to wolf in respect to ferocity.

So which sentences are correct? And what is more, which sentences are
usual/unusual?

Choosing the right preposition is currently one of the things that I
find hardest about English. I'd really appreciate it if you would keep
correcting me :)

BTW, is there a general term for "prepositional constructs" like "with
respect to"? I usually refer to them as "compound prepositions", but
what is the official terminology?


Emoráni,
René

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