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yanxu
When "...than I thought/expected" is followed by a sentence, when is not?
1.The data was harder to interpret than I thought it would be.
2. Arranging all these paintings is a much bigger job than I expected.
Why “I thought” is followed by "it would be", while "I expected" is followed by nothing.
Thank you very much!
2011年4月18日 15:03
回答 · 5
Great question. Actually, in this type of sentence "thought" and "expected" mean the same thing. And both can be followed by a phrase.
You can say:"It was harder than I thought it would be." or "It was harder than I expected it to be." 都是一样。
As Eliot mentioned "it would be" or "it to be" can be left off.
Hence, you can also say: "It was harder than I thought" or "It was harder than I expected"
And all 4 sentences mean the same thing.
Don't ask me why "thought" must be followed by "would" and "expected" must be followed by "to". Haha ... I am a bit puzzled by this myself. 有时候我觉得中文比英语容易一点。
2011年4月22日
than I thought = abbreviation for "than I thought [it would be]"
You can say the long phrase or you can say the shorter one at any time, without any change in meaning.
BTW, the long phrase has variations:
...than I though he would do
...than I thought he would have.
...than I thought she would be.
I think you get the gist.
2011年4月19日
The tenses have to match
2011年4月19日
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