is nosier than

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Vincent Teo

#493626 Thu, 27 Mar 08 03:15 PM

Can I say,

(a) The city is nosier but the village is quiet.

(b) The city is nosier but the countryside / outskirt is lonely.

Vincent Teo

Joined on Sat, Mar 31 2007

Senior Member (3,896)

Avangi

#493630 Thu, 27 Mar 08 03:37 PM

I don't think either one works. In making this sort of a comparison I believe the adjectives should be parallel. Noisier (check spelling) is a comparative. Quiet and lonely are not. Make them both one way or the other: The city is noisy, but the village is quiet. The city is noisy but the outskirts are lonely.

You'll probably hear native speakers use the two comparatives in casual conversation, but I don't think they should be used formally: The city is noisier but the village is quieter.

It would probably be correct to place the comparative in the second clause only: The city is noisy but the village is quieter / more quiet.

Avangi

Joined on Mon, Nov 19 2007

Senior Member (3,289)

". . . le plaisir delicieux et toujours nouveau d'une occupation inutile." - Henri de Regnier

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RayH

#493632 Thu, 27 Mar 08 03:44 PM

I'm pretty sure you mean "noisy" here.

(a) The city is noisy ~~nosier~~ but the village is quiet.

In (b) I'm not sure you would ever juxtapose noisy/lonely but I suppose you could. "countryside", I think, is the only choice that fits here.
So, (b) The city is noisy ~~nosier~~ but the countryside is lonely.

RayH

Joined on Sat, Mar 22 2008

CA, USA

Regular Member (689)

Native speaker of U. S. English. Not a grammar expert.

RayH

#493639 Thu, 27 Mar 08 03:58 PM

Avangi
The city is noisy but the outskirts are lonely.

Agreed, I should have thought of that.

Avangi
The city is noisy but the village is quieter / more quiet.

I don't think you will hear many native speakers saying "more quiet" in this context or in any context for that matter.

Although, sadly, I have been hearing far too many people using the "more X" construction where it's not really appropriate (instead of "Xer"). I would appreciate any comments on this from the grammar experts out there.

RayH