A lot more

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paco2004

#107272 Fri, 10 Jun 05 11:01 AM

Hello Teachers

I would like to know about the phrase "a lot more".

I feel you are using "a lot more" in various ways, sometimes as a noun, sometimes as an adjective and sometimes as an adverb. I understand as follows. Am I right?
There is a lot more to be done. (noun)
We have to pay a lot more. (noun?)
I need a lot more books. (adjective).
This one is a lot more expensive (adverb)

I understand these simple "a lot more" are actually "a lot more than .." and the clauses are omitted there. Am I right?

paco

paco2004

Joined on Wed, Nov 17 2004

Senior Member (4,095)

In Japan today even dogs are learning how to bow-wow in English.

Verbs, Nouns, Adverbs, Clauses

Mister Micawber

#107278 Fri, 10 Jun 05 11:17 AM

'There is a lot more to be done. (noun)' -- pronoun, actually: 'a lot more [e.g. work] to be done'
'We have to pay a lot more. (noun?)' -- another pronoun, I presume: 'a lot more [money]'
'I need a lot more books. (adjective)' -- yes, or determiner.
'This one is a lot more expensive (adverb)' -- yes, modifying the adjective.

I suppose that 'more... than' can be extrapolated from all such cases, though I don't think the speaker is making any conscious comparison in examples like 'There's a lot more to be done'-- I don't think that s/he is comparing the quantities of work done and still to do-- just indicating that the task is not nearly finished yet.

Mister Micawber

Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004

Yokohama

Veteran Member (21,106)

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

Verbs, Nouns, Resume, Adverbs, Pronouns, Determiners

paco2004

#107285 Fri, 10 Jun 05 11:56 AM

Thank you, Mister Micawber. I'm lucky to be here because otherwise I would never know the usage of this phrase of which explanation I can't find anywhere in my grammar books, dictionaries or online. I'm wondering why there is no explanation about such a frequently spoken phrase. Anyway I would like to say to you again "Thank you so much".

paco

paco2004

Grammar

LanguageLover

#107732 Sat, 11 Jun 05 06:10 PM

Or thank you a lot more!
I'm just joking Paco. There are lots of things, or a lot more, that you can't find in any grammar books, or dictionaries, or online. They think those things are too basic to be mentioned!

LanguageLover

Joined on Fri, Feb 25 2005

A proud Iranian living in the UAE

Contributing Member (1,393)

The similarities among the languages are more than their differences!

Grammar

Gwei Lo

#107745 Sat, 11 Jun 05 07:00 PM

Hi Paco

It may help to replace the words 'a lot' with either 'much' or 'many', (much more to be done, many books to read...). The context stays the same, but the usage is more clear.

Gwei Lo

Joined on Sat, Jun 11 2005

Baton Rouge, USA

New Member (02)