comparative + THAN + adjective – English Grammar Profiler

I am reading higher than normal alcohol levels

 in your bloodstream, sir.

listen to the pronunciation

“higher than normal” refers to the alcohol levels in the bloodstream being above the standard or average range. This could be due to recent consumption of alcohol. The exact range for “normal” can vary, but typically, a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% is considered legally impaired in many countries. If the alcohol levels are “higher than normal,” it could mean that the BAC is above this limit. However, it’s important to note that even small amounts of alcohol can affect individuals differently, and it’s always safest not to drink and drive.

(higher-than-normal)

There are 19 species of mammals 

that live longer than expected, 

given their body size, than man, and 18 of those are bats.

TED

 The phrase “live longer than expected” (live longer than people expect) is used to compare the lifespan of certain species to what would typically be expected based on their body size. In the phrase “live longer than expected,” “longer” is used as an adverb modifying the verb “live.” It indicates living for a greater length of time than what was expected.  ‘Expected’ is a past participle acting as an adjective.

There is no grammar point in the English Grammar Profile for this, so we believe it should be listed at C2.

The grammar pattern includes a comparative form which (if an adjective) is used to compare differences between the two objects they modify (“higher”, “lower”, “better”) + THAN which is a conjunction commonly used in comparisons + an adjective which describes or modifies another person or thing in the sentence. For example: “expected”, “normal”, “usual”, etc..  However, there is an advanced ellipsis.

The period at the end signifies the end of the clause to avoid attributive adjective phrases.

A search in the NOW corpus at 18 billion words for _JJR than _JJ .

1 HIGHER THAN EXPECTED. 1860 2 LOWER THAN EXPECTED. 1620

3 HIGHER THAN NORMAL. 1063

4 BETTER THAN EXPECTED. 1050 5 WORSE THAN EXPECTED. 801 6 STRONGER THAN EXPECTED. 751 7 WEAKER THAN EXPECTED. 701 8 HIGHER THAN USUAL. 685

9 LONGER THAN EXPECTED. 608

10 FASTER THAN EXPECTED. 538 11 HIGHER THAN AVERAGE. 464 12 WARMER THAN NORMAL. 455 13 LOWER THAN NORMAL. 400 14 WARMER THAN AVERAGE. 361 15 SLOWER THAN EXPECTED. 331 16 LOWER THAN USUAL. 323 17 FREER THAN FREE. 314 18 SMALLER THAN EXPECTED. 300 19 LONGER THAN USUAL. 283 20 HIGHER THAN ANTICIPATED. 277 21 BUSIER THAN USUAL. 231 22 LOWER THAN AVERAGE. 226 23 GREATER THAN EXPECTED. 219 24 WARMER THAN USUAL. 203 25 SMALLER THAN USUAL. 196 26 LOWER THAN ANTICIPATED. 185 27 LONGER THAN NECESSARY. 184 28 LARGER THAN EXPECTED. 179 29 HOTTER THAN EXPECTED. 172 30 BETTER THAN AVERAGE. 168 31 QUIETER THAN USUAL. 168 32 WORSE THAN USUAL. 165 33 COOLER THAN NORMAL. 160 34 BIGGER THAN EXPECTED. 157 35 WORSE THAN USELESS. 157 36 LARGER THAN NORMAL. 153 37 BETTER THAN USUAL. 133 38 LARGER THAN USUAL. 131 39 SHORTER THAN USUAL. 131 40 COLDER THAN NORMAL. 125 41 BRIGHTER THAN USUAL. 122 42 WHITER THAN WHITE. 115 43 DRIER THAN NORMAL. 114 44 SLOWER THAN ANTICIPATED. 114 45 TOUGHER THAN EXPECTED. 113 46 CHEAPER THAN USUAL. 112 47 SMALLER THAN NORMAL. 112 48 BUSIER THAN NORMAL. 111 49 WORSE THAN ANTICIPATED. 111 50 BIGGER THAN USUAL. 106 51 EARLIER THAN EXPECTED. 103 52 COOLER THAN AVERAGE. 101 53 LONGER THAN ANTICIPATED. 92 54 FASTER THAN ANTICIPATED. 87 55 COLDER THAN AVERAGE. 87 56 SOFTER THAN EXPECTED. 86 57 WORSE THAN AVERAGE. 85 58 SLOWER THAN USUAL. 84 59 WETTER THAN NORMAL. 84 60 STRONGER THAN ANTICIPATED. 80 61 SHORTER THAN EXPECTED. 79 62 DRIER THAN AVERAGE. 78 63 GREATER THAN ANTICIPATED. 74 64 HOTTER THAN NORMAL. 71 65 COLDER THAN USUAL. 71 66 LONGER THAN NORMAL. 71 67 LOWER THAN PROJECTED. 71 68 QUICKER THAN EXPECTED. 71 69 DRIER THAN USUAL. 68 70 BETTER THAN ANTICIPATED. 67 71 FASTER THAN USUAL. 67 72 GREATER THAN NORMAL. 66 73 HIGHER THAN PROJECTED. 64 74 HARDER THAN ANTICIPATED. 63 75 LARGER THAN ANTICIPATED. 63 76 LATER THAN USUAL. 63 77 FASTER THAN LIGHT. 62 78 LIGHTER THAN USUAL. 62 79 WORSE THAN NORMAL. 61 80 SMALLER THAN ANTICIPATED. 60 81 STRONGER THAN USUAL. 60 82 HEAVIER THAN USUAL. 59 83 BIGGER THAN NORMAL. 57 84 TOUGHER THAN USUAL. 57 85 CLOSER THAN EXPECTED. 56 86 BETTER THAN GOOD. 56 87 BETTER THAN PERFECT. 56 88 FASTER THAN NORMAL. 55 89 LARGER THAN AVERAGE. 55 90 HARDER THAN EXPECTED. 54 91 LOUDER THAN USUAL. 54 92 SHORTER THAN NORMAL. 54 93 BETTER THAN NORMAL. 52 94 QUIETER THAN NORMAL. 52 95 THINNER THAN USUAL. 52 96 WEAKER THAN ANTICIPATED. 51 97 BRIGHTER THAN NORMAL. 49 98 HOTTER THAN USUAL. 49 99 SMALLER THAN AVERAGE. 47

100 HEAVIER THAN NORMAL. 46