Another possibility for subordinate clause without subject
Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 3:37 am
Dear Alan
I beg to differ from you. Can I interpret the sentence 'More people came than had been expected' as follows:
'More...than' is correlative conjunction like 'both ... and' or 'either ... or', and 'than' acts as a coordinating conjunction part of the correlative conjunction like 'and' and 'or'. Therefore, 'than' joins two finite verbs, viz., 'came' and 'had been expected', two parallel constructs.
I beg to differ from you. Can I interpret the sentence 'More people came than had been expected' as follows:
'More...than' is correlative conjunction like 'both ... and' or 'either ... or', and 'than' acts as a coordinating conjunction part of the correlative conjunction like 'and' and 'or'. Therefore, 'than' joins two finite verbs, viz., 'came' and 'had been expected', two parallel constructs.