J
jc26
Member
BC, Canada
Korean
- Nov 5, 2008
- #1
Is the following a sentence?
The more, the better.
If so, what is the subject and the main verb?
Y
yourfairlady05
Senior Member
USA
English - United States
- Nov 5, 2008
- #2
I've heard "the more, the merrier" more often, and it's a commonly heard phrase in English. I think if you had to pinpoint a subject and a verb you could say that they are both hidden or implicit. The idea is that "the more people there are, the better" so the subject being "people", the verb being "are". It doesn't have to just be people, it depends on the context, but it's usually spoken in the context of parties.
natkretep
Moderato con anima (English Only)
Singapore
English (Singapore/UK), basic Chinese
- Nov 5, 2008
- #3
Could be analysed in various ways, but you could think:
[The more] = subject
[relational verb omitted]
[the merrier] = complement
Meaning, the more = the merrier. And as yourfairlady05 has noted, the subject and complement can be expanded into clauses themselves.
This is an unusual structure, but quite a productive one.
The more he protests, the more I'll insist.
The bigger, the better.
J
jc26
Member
BC, Canada
Korean
- Nov 6, 2008
- #4
yourfairlady05 said:
I've heard "the more, the merrier" more often, and it's a commonly heard phrase in English.
Do you mean it's a phrase and not a sentence?
natkretep
Moderato con anima (English Only)
Singapore
English (Singapore/UK), basic Chinese
- Nov 6, 2008
- #5
No, I think it is a sentence without a verb - so very unusual!
H
hya_been
Senior Member
English - Canada
- Nov 6, 2008
- #6
That's not a sentence. I'd say fragment. We don't have a subject. If it was
"The more candy, the better".
Then it'd make sense.
As for "The more, the merrier." Even though it's a saying, it's still a fragment.
K
kalamazoo
Senior Member
US, English
- Nov 6, 2008
- #7
I think maybe you could consider it a sentence with an implied subject and predicate. It would generally stand by itself. You could always restate it as "More is better than fewer." As to the question "more of what?" that would depend on the context.
natkretep
Moderato con anima (English Only)
Singapore
English (Singapore/UK), basic Chinese
- Nov 6, 2008
- #8
hya_been said:
That's not a sentence. I'd say fragment. We don't have a subject. If it was
"The more candy, the better".
Then it'd make sense.As for "The more, the merrier." Even though it's a saying, it's still a fragment.
I think there is a subject. The is always used before a noun, so more is now substantive (a noun), and 'the more' functions as subject. (Cf. the poor, the haves.)
F
Forero
Senior Member
Maumelle, Arkansas, USA
USA English
- Nov 6, 2008
- #9
In Old English, the two thes were not articles but demonstratives with different case endings. In modern English, we have to fill in words to express what used to be in the endings. No verb was necessary:
the(1) = so (much), subject.
the(2) = that (much), complement.
The more, the better = So (much) more (is) that (much) better.
C
Cagey
post mod (English Only / Latin)
California
English - US
- Nov 6, 2008
- #10
Here is another thread on the same construction: More you play, more you could have vs. The more... the more
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