'the ...er' construction

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Taka  #91426  Tue, 19 Apr 05 12:24 PM
Example:
As we lose more forests=> The more forests we loose


Then how do you convert

As more forests disappear


into the 'the ...er' construction? Is it 'The more forests disappear' without inversion? Or is the conversion basically impossible in this case?
  
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antía  #91459  Tue, 19 Apr 05 02:49 PM
I think no inversion (DO first and S-V then) is needed in this case as there is no DO... I would say "The more forests disappear" is right (my teachers used to tell me: "the more you read, the more you learn", which is a similar construction, "the more"+S+V), however, I've found on the Internet some examples like this: "The more trees that die, the more trees that will die." ([link]:yyeqjGVherkJ:dieoff.org/page47.htm+%22the+more+trees%22&hl=es).

Swan explains in his grammar (p. 123, Practical English Usage, OUP) that the word order in both clauses in this kind of structures is this one: "the"+comparative expression+subject+verb. He also notes that sometimes "that" is used before the first verb, as in my last example above.

Hope this helps!
  
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pieanne  #91474  Tue, 19 Apr 05 03:10 PM
Hello!
No, Antia is right, there is no inversion with that structure; but it requires another clause for balance (it's a comparison), for instance:
"the more forests disappear, the more monkeys ... uh ... are homeless".

PS: Taka, it's "lose" with one "o" Smile [:)]
  
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I'm glad to help, but I'm not a native! And please excuse my typos...
Taka  #91492  Tue, 19 Apr 05 03:50 PM
Taka, it's "lose" with one "o"


Oops! Sorry about the typo. Now I edited it.
  
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