Suppose we are comparing a particular characteristic (that takes comparative -er) of two items, A and B. Compared to B, A displays double that characteristic. There are multiple ways we can express this:
1) A is two times as (adj.) as B.
2) A is twice as (adj.) as B.
3) A is two times (adj.)-er than B.
4) A is twice (adj.)-er than B.
My "American English ear" hears that last one as…troublesome. Yet a Google search turns up examples of this construction (e.g. "twice larger", "twice longer").
Is this construction valid in any (or all?) varieties of English?
Best Answer
"Is this construction valid in any (or all?) varieties of English?" – Yes, the "construction" is; the semantics may not be, though.
There's nothing "unAmerican" about it either.
"My … ear hears that last one as...troublesome." – all ears ought to find it so, it's semantically awkward/ maybe even invalid (fails to make sense to some?), yet it works.
All English: twice larger than had a respectable life, dominated over two times larger than for some time around (late) 1800s, and continues to lead a quiet and comfortable life today.
See also: AmE; BrE
This answer is not based on interpretation of nGrams – I started off with the answer, and then found nGrams to be supportive, to some extent, of what I wanted to say.