Clause: comparative

• Scalar

The pool is nearly as wide as it is long

• Non scalar

They come from the same part of Britain as I come from

• Superiority

She did better in the exam than we’d thought she would.

• Inferiority

The second book was less interesting than the first one.

• Comparative clauses constitute one of the three major kinds of tensed subordinate. What distinguishes them from relative and content clauses is that they are obligatorily reduced in certain ways relative to the structure of main clauses.

• In non-scalar comparison of equality we also find comparative clauses after the preposition like - though like licenses content clauses as well.

We don’t get along like we used to. (comparative clause)

It looks like it’s going to rain. (content clause)