comparative adjective + THAN + finite clause

In the sentence:

It‘s easier than you think to get lost.

listen

, the grammar structure ‘than’ + a finite clause forming the second part of comparison after a comparative adjective is used.

Here’s how it breaks down:

  • “It’s easier” is the first part of the comparison. “Easier” is a comparative adjective, which is used to compare two things.
  • “Than” is a conjunction used to introduce the second part of the comparison.
  • “You think” is the finite clause, which is a complete thought or sentence.

So, in this sentence, the speaker is comparing how easy “it” (whatever “it” refers to) is with how easy “you think to get lost” is. The implication is that “it” is easier than what you might believe.

Here’s a more complex example:

As she spent more hours in the kitchen, 

she realized that cooking was far more multi-sensory than she had thought.

TED

Note that this structure is also used with adverbs.

I‘m sure there have been much better speakers

 and much smarter people in the course of this session

 that have actually defined it more eloquently than I have.

TED


A search in iWeb corpus for:

_JJR than _P _VV

1 EASIER THAN YOU THINK 3935

2 CLOSER THAN YOU THINK 927
3 HARDER THAN IT LOOKS 740

This is a lot harder than it looks on the Internet.

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4 SMALLER THAN I EXPECTED 688
5 BETTER THAN I EXPECTED 637
6 HARDER THAN IT SOUNDS 620
7 HARDER THAN YOU THINK 560
8 BIGGER THAN I THOUGHT 557
9 BIGGER THAN I EXPECTED 508
10 SMALLER THAN I THOUGHT 470
11 EASIER THAN IT SOUNDS 443
12 BETTER THAN I THOUGHT 433
13 SIMPLER THAN YOU THINK 433
14 BIGGER THAN YOU THINK 429
15 LARGER THAN I EXPECTED 416
16 WORSE THAN I THOUGHT 382
17 STRONGER THAN YOU THINK 374
18 LONGER THAN YOU THINK 333
19 EASIER THAN IT LOOKS 330
20 HARDER THAN I THOUGHT 324
21 HARDER THAN IT SEEMS 294
22 SMARTER THAN YOU THINK 260
23 EASIER THAN I THOUGHT 244
24 BIGGER THAN IT LOOKS 243
25 BETTER THAN YOU THINK 236
26 SMALLER THAN YOU THINK 230
27 HIGHER THAN YOU THINK 228
28 WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT 227
29 HIGHER THAN I EXPECTED 225
30 CHEAPER THAN YOU THINK 217
31 WORSE THAN YOU THINK 211
32 FASTER THAN YOU THINK 204
33 HEAVIER THAN I EXPECTED 203
34 HARDER THAN IT NEEDS 190
35 LARGER THAN I THOUGHT 183
36 LARGER THAN YOU THINK 177
37 CLOSER THAN WE THINK 176
38 LONGER THAN I CARE 173
39 TOUGHER THAN IT LOOKS 169
40 TRICKIER THAN IT SOUNDS 167
41 NICER THAN I EXPECTED 157

42 SIMPLER THAN IT SOUNDS 157

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43 LIGHTER THAN I EXPECTED 156
44 EASIER THAN IT SEEMS 155
45 TOUGHER THAN I THOUGHT 152
46 LOWER THAN I EXPECTED 147
47 BETTER THAN IT LOOKS 145
48 LARGER THAN IT NEEDS 129
49 WORSE THAN IT LOOKS 128
50 BIGGER THAN IT NEEDS 123
51 TOUGHER THAN YOU THINK 123
52 BIGGER THAN YOU NEED 121
53 BETTER THAN IT SOUNDS 120
54 SHORTER THAN I EXPECTED 119
55 LARGER THAN IT APPEARS 118
56 HIGHER THAN I THOUGHT 117
57 LIGHTER THAN IT LOOKS 116
58 WORSE THAN I EXPECTED 116
59 SMALLER THAN IT LOOKS 115
60 SIMPLER THAN IT LOOKS 113
61 LARGER THAN IT LOOKS 112
62 STRONGER THAN I THOUGHT 109
63 HEAVIER THAN I THOUGHT 105
64 LONGER THAN IT TAKES 105
65 EASIER THAN YOU THOUGHT 104
66 LATER THAN YOU THINK 104
67 LOWER THAN YOU THINK 104
68 THINNER THAN I EXPECTED 102
69 LARGER THAN YOU NEED 98
70 LARGER THAN THEY NEED 94
71 THICKER THAN I EXPECTED 94
72 FASTER THAN I THOUGHT 93
73 BIGGER THAN WE THOUGHT 92
74 DARKER THAN I EXPECTED 91
75 LONGER THAN IT NEEDS 90
76 TOUGHER THAN IT SOUNDS 90
77 HEAVIER THAN IT LOOKS 87
78 LONGER THAN YOU EXPECT 87
79 LONGER THAN I THOUGHT 86
80 SIMPLER THAN I THOUGHT 84
81 STRONGER THAN YOU KNOW 84
82 SMALLER THAN I IMAGINED 83
83 HIGHER THAN YOU WANT 82
84 BRAVER THAN YOU BELIEVE 81
85 HIGHER THAN WE EXPECTED 81
86 SMARTER THAN WE THINK 80
87 EASIER THAN I EXPECTED 79
88 HIGHER THAN YOU EXPECT 79
89 SMARTER THAN WE GIVE 79
90 OLDER THAN YOU THINK 78
91 TRICKIER THAN IT SEEMS 77
92 BIGGER THAN WE EXPECTED 75
93 NICER THAN I THOUGHT 75
94 BETTER THAN YOU FOUND 74
95 SIMPLER THAN IT SEEMS 74
96 TRICKIER THAN IT LOOKS 74
97 WORSE THAN IT SOUNDS 74
98 HIGHER THAN I WANTED 73
99 QUICKER THAN YOU THINK 73
100 HIGHER THAN YOU EXPECTED 72

_JJR than _NN _VV

5 BIGGER THAN PEOPLE THINK 26
6 EASIER THAN PEOPLE THINK 21
7 STRONGER THAN PEOPLE THINK 19
8 SMARTER THAN PEOPLE THINK 19
9 SMARTER THAN PEOPLE GIVE 18
10 GREATER THAN PEOPLE THINK 16
11 BETTER THAN PEOPLE THINK 16
12 BETTER THAN PEOPLE GIVE 14
13 HARDER THAN PEOPLE THINK 13
14 RARER THAN PEOPLE THINK 13
15 TOUGHER THAN PEOPLE THINK 12
16 SMALLER THAN PEOPLE THINK 12
17 SIMPLER THAN PEOPLE THINK 12


A2 vocabulary:

believe, care, heavier, higher, larger, lower, simpler, sounds, stronger, thinner, worse

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