Grammar of ‘More Carefully Than I Do’ in Comparative Sentences

adverbsclausescomplementsparsingphrases

Consider this sentence:

My wife drives more carefully than I do.

I want to understand the grammatical role of the phrase,

more carefully than I do

Is it an adverb, and adverb phrase, an adverb clause, an adverb complement or something else?

Best Answer

Welcome to English Language Learners.

In this sentence, the phrase, 'more carefully than I do', is an adverbial phrase. It can't be considered an adverbial clause because it doesn't have its own subject and verb. It can't be considered an adverbial complement because it's not necessary for the meaning of the verb, 'to drive'.

An example of an adverbial clause would be

My wife drives when she wants our trip to be safe.

It starts with a subordinating conjunction and has a separate subject and verb.

An example of an adverbial complement where the verb is 'to drive away' would be

My wife drives away when I offer to get behind the wheel.

Related Topic