Is the sentence: “The longer I worked, the worse my career.” A correct sentence?
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In the English translation of Cixin Liu's The Three-Body Problem by Ken Liu there is the sentence in chapter sixteen, The Three Body Problem, that reads:
The longer I worked, the worse my career.
Which to me feels like an incomplete sentence: the worse my career [__ what? __]? Perhaps it could be helped with a became -or- a got? I went back to look at the original sentence which just says:
越混越次
It's an acceptable translation, but sounds very chinglish-y.
Is this a proper sentence?
grammar
asked Nov 13 at 5:37
user3306356
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In the English translation of Cixin Liu's The Three-Body Problem by Ken Liu there is the sentence in chapter sixteen, The Three Body Problem, that reads:
The longer I worked, the worse my career.
Which to me feels like an incomplete sentence: the worse my career [__ what? __]? Perhaps it could be helped with a became -or- a got? I went back to look at the original sentence which just says:
越混越次
It's an acceptable translation, but sounds very chinglish-y.
Is this a proper sentence?
grammar
asked Nov 13 at 5:37
user3306356
3,58563063
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 29 mins ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
favorite
up vote
0
down vote
favorite
In the English translation of Cixin Liu's The Three-Body Problem by Ken Liu there is the sentence in chapter sixteen, The Three Body Problem, that reads:
The longer I worked, the worse my career.
Which to me feels like an incomplete sentence: the worse my career [__ what? __]? Perhaps it could be helped with a became -or- a got? I went back to look at the original sentence which just says:
越混越次
It's an acceptable translation, but sounds very chinglish-y.
Is this a proper sentence?
grammar
asked Nov 13 at 5:37
user3306356
3,58563063
In the English translation of Cixin Liu's The Three-Body Problem by Ken Liu there is the sentence in chapter sixteen, The Three Body Problem, that reads:
The longer I worked, the worse my career.
Which to me feels like an incomplete sentence: the worse my career [__ what? __]? Perhaps it could be helped with a became -or- a got? I went back to look at the original sentence which just says:
越混越次
It's an acceptable translation, but sounds very chinglish-y.
Is this a proper sentence?
grammar
grammar
asked Nov 13 at 5:37
user3306356
3,58563063
asked Nov 13 at 5:37
user3306356
3,58563063
asked Nov 13 at 5:37
user3306356
3,58563063
asked Nov 13 at 5:37
user3306356
3,58563063
asked Nov 13 at 5:37
user3306356
3,58563063
3,58563063
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 29 mins ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 29 mins ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
add a comment |
add a comment |
2 Answers
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The longer I worked, the worse my career is an example of what is usually called a double comparative. Such comparatives most commonly contain parallel structures, either with or without verbs. For example in clichés such as:
The bigger they come, the harder they fall.
The sooner, the better.
In your example there is faulty parallelism: a verb is missing in the second part. While its meaning is clear, it is grammatically questionable.
There is a good article about double comparatives on ThoughtCo:
https://www.thoughtco.com/double-comparatives-1210274
answered Nov 13 at 9:25
Shoe
24.9k43684
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The sentence needs a predicate, depending on the context:
The longer I worked, the worse my career was.
Or: The longer I worked, the worse my career has been.
answered Nov 13 at 7:43
user307254
1,114110
Try and cite a source in support of the answer.
– Kris
Nov 13 at 7:49
add a comment |
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2 Answers
2
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2 Answers
2
active
oldest
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active
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up vote
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The longer I worked, the worse my career is an example of what is usually called a double comparative. Such comparatives most commonly contain parallel structures, either with or without verbs. For example in clichés such as:
The bigger they come, the harder they fall.
The sooner, the better.
In your example there is faulty parallelism: a verb is missing in the second part. While its meaning is clear, it is grammatically questionable.
There is a good article about double comparatives on ThoughtCo:
https://www.thoughtco.com/double-comparatives-1210274
answered Nov 13 at 9:25
Shoe
24.9k43684
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
The longer I worked, the worse my career is an example of what is usually called a double comparative. Such comparatives most commonly contain parallel structures, either with or without verbs. For example in clichés such as:
The bigger they come, the harder they fall.
The sooner, the better.
In your example there is faulty parallelism: a verb is missing in the second part. While its meaning is clear, it is grammatically questionable.
There is a good article about double comparatives on ThoughtCo:
https://www.thoughtco.com/double-comparatives-1210274
answered Nov 13 at 9:25
Shoe
24.9k43684
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
The longer I worked, the worse my career is an example of what is usually called a double comparative. Such comparatives most commonly contain parallel structures, either with or without verbs. For example in clichés such as:
The bigger they come, the harder they fall.
The sooner, the better.
In your example there is faulty parallelism: a verb is missing in the second part. While its meaning is clear, it is grammatically questionable.
There is a good article about double comparatives on ThoughtCo:
https://www.thoughtco.com/double-comparatives-1210274
answered Nov 13 at 9:25
Shoe
24.9k43684
The longer I worked, the worse my career is an example of what is usually called a double comparative. Such comparatives most commonly contain parallel structures, either with or without verbs. For example in clichés such as:
The bigger they come, the harder they fall.
The sooner, the better.
In your example there is faulty parallelism: a verb is missing in the second part. While its meaning is clear, it is grammatically questionable.
There is a good article about double comparatives on ThoughtCo:
https://www.thoughtco.com/double-comparatives-1210274
answered Nov 13 at 9:25
Shoe
24.9k43684
answered Nov 13 at 9:25
Shoe
24.9k43684
answered Nov 13 at 9:25
Shoe
24.9k43684
answered Nov 13 at 9:25
Shoe
24.9k43684
24.9k43684
add a comment |
add a comment |
up vote
-1
down vote
The sentence needs a predicate, depending on the context:
The longer I worked, the worse my career was.
Or: The longer I worked, the worse my career has been.
answered Nov 13 at 7:43
user307254
1,114110
Try and cite a source in support of the answer.
– Kris
Nov 13 at 7:49
add a comment |
up vote
-1
down vote
The sentence needs a predicate, depending on the context:
The longer I worked, the worse my career was.
Or: The longer I worked, the worse my career has been.
answered Nov 13 at 7:43
user307254
1,114110
Try and cite a source in support of the answer.
– Kris
Nov 13 at 7:49
add a comment |
up vote
-1
down vote
up vote
-1
down vote
The sentence needs a predicate, depending on the context:
The longer I worked, the worse my career was.
Or: The longer I worked, the worse my career has been.
answered Nov 13 at 7:43
user307254
1,114110
The sentence needs a predicate, depending on the context:
The longer I worked, the worse my career was.
Or: The longer I worked, the worse my career has been.
answered Nov 13 at 7:43
user307254
1,114110
answered Nov 13 at 7:43
user307254
1,114110
answered Nov 13 at 7:43
user307254
1,114110
answered Nov 13 at 7:43
user307254
1,114110
1,114110
Try and cite a source in support of the answer.
– Kris
Nov 13 at 7:49
add a comment |
Try and cite a source in support of the answer.
– Kris
Nov 13 at 7:49
Try and cite a source in support of the answer.
– Kris
Nov 13 at 7:49
Try and cite a source in support of the answer.
– Kris
Nov 13 at 7:49
add a comment |
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