DESCRIBING HOW THINGS CHANGE IN RELATION TO ONE ANOTHER: using “the” with comparative adjectives

We can use the following construction to describe how things change in relation to one another:

 the + comparative adjective + clause + the + comparative adjective + clause.

 The author A A Milne uses this many times in his “Winnie the Pooh” books, e.g.
“And all the time Winnie-the-Pooh had been trying to get the honey-jar off his head. The more he shook it, the more tightly it stuck.” [1]

 Possibly the most well-known example is: “The more it snows (Tiddely pom), The more it goes (Tiddely pom), The more it goes (Tiddely pom), On Snowing.” [2]



 This construction can be useful in scientific writing. For example,

 “The larger the diameter, or aperture, of the telescope, the greater its ability to gather more light and the higher its resolution (or ability to image fine details).”

 Other examples:

 “And the more different pairs of socks you start with, the higher the odds of producing odd socks becomes.”

 “the more people who travel, the cheaper the journey becomes for everyone.”



 The construction is sometimes shortened to take the form:

 the + comparative adjective + the + comparative adjective.

 An example is the commonly used phrase, “the more the merrier,” meaning that a situation will be improved by more people or things, e.g. “It’s all about raising awareness so the more the merrier and if people wanted to get some sponsorship as well, that’s an added bonus.”

 Other examples:

 “The smaller the better, especially when it comes to carbon-rich fibrous materials such as cardboard, straw, newspaper, plant stalks, woody stems and autumn leaves which should ideally be shredded or chopped up before being added.”

 “Weddings are one of those days brides are expected to look as delicate as a flower, but when it comes to bows on your gown—the larger, the better.”

 [1] Milne, A. A.; Shepherd, E. H.; Winnie-the-Pooh (pp. 68–69). Egmont UK. Kindle Edition. 
 [2] Milne, A. A.; The House at Pooh Corner (p.4). Egmont UK Ltd. Kindle Edition.

 Photo credit: Marco Verch (Creative Commons Licence)

ARTICLES

One of the most frequent corrections I make as an editor is to add or remove direct and indirect articles. How do we know when to use articles, and whether to use definite or indefinite articles?


Indefinite articles:
These are “a” and “an.” Indefinite articles are generally used when the speaker is referring to a non-specific item.
e.g. I would like a coffee. (Any coffee)

We use “an” before a word beginning with a vowel (a, e, i, o or u) sound and “a” before a word beginning with a consonant (non-vowel) sound.
e.g. a car, an umbrella
Note that it is the sound a word begins with when spoken that determines whether “a” or “an” is required, so it is best to say a word aloud to decide which one to use.
e.g. even though “unicorn” is spelled with an initial “u” (a vowel), it is pronounced “you-ni-corn,” so we say “a unicorn.”
Similarly, although “hour” is spelled with an initial “h” (a consonant), this is silent (i.e. “our”), so we would say “an hour.”


The definite article:
This is “the,” and it is generally used to refer to something specific.
e.g. Would you bring me the bill? (Specifically my bill and not someone else’s)


For a more comprehensive guide to using articles, including situations in which they are not used (the zero article), I would recommend A Short Article on Articles by David Appleyard


Photo credit: kate mccarthy (Creative Commons)