3 times as big as vs. 3 times bigger than

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

I have some questions about comparatives.

  1. ‘Their house is about 3 times as big as ours.’
    I understand that this sentence is correct, but I was wondering if I could use ‘than’ with the expression of ‘twice or three times’ as following sentence.
    ‘Their house is about 3 times bigger than ours.’
    When I asked someone about this question, he said using ‘than’ in this context is not formal and you should avoid this expression writing essays.

  2. ‘I have 5 dollars more than you.’
    Can I write ‘I have 5 more dollars than you.’? Is it wrong or does it have different meaning?

  3. ‘I spend 2 hours more studying English than you.’
    Should I always write ‘studyig English’ before ‘than you’? What I mean is, whether it is possible to switch them or not.

Thanks in advance.

2

2- Is not correct to say the second choice (( I have 5 more dollars than you )) the first choice is correct.
3- 'I spend 2 hours more studying English than you.
I think it is better to say (( I spend 2 hours more than you in styding English )) or further- more .
Better & superlative adjectives allways followed by than e.g. better than, higher than, taller than, smaller than …etc…
I am taller than him. He is smaller than me . This box is larger than that. This girl is the happier than those. or: The happier one.

3

  1. ‘Their house is about 3 times as big as ours.’
    ‘Their house is about 3 times bigger than ours.’ – These are both OK. I don’t agree that either is more formal than the other.

  2. ‘I have 5 dollars more than you (do).’
    Can I write ‘I have 5 more dollars than you (do).’? – Yes; it means the same. It is always clearer to add the dummy ‘do’.

  3. ‘I spend 2 hours more studying English than you.’
    Should I always write ‘studying English’ before ‘than you’? What I mean is, whether it is possible to switch them or not.-- [b]Switching is actually clearer if the phrase is long:

I spend 2 hours more studying English than you do.
I spend 2 hours more than you do studying English.
I spend 2 hours more washing my hair in the shower and dying it pink than you do.
I spend 2 hours more than you do washing my hair in the shower and dying it pink.[/b]

4

Mister Micawber,thank you for answering my questions.

Can I ask one more thing?

When you were answering the third question, you put ‘do’ (I spend 2 hours more than you do studying English.) and I know it means ‘spend’ which is followed by ~ing form of verb. If I omit ‘do’, then is it incorrect?

5

No, but it can be challenged by some grammarians; that is why I recommend always including the verb. I recommend the same for such sentences as this:

I like wilder rock stars than Bono does.

6

Can I write ‘I have 5 more dollars than you (do).’? – Yes; it means the same. It is always clearer to add the dummy ‘do’.

here it is right " having 5 dollars than me or than him" is correct, yes meaning the same, but I remember you didn’t offer that in previous example, being sorry to say that ,but for the overall respect & general benefit… good luck.

7

Sometimes the grammatical version is right, but the linguistically one is not, here is not lecture, but to share knowledge and opinuions , good luck to all readers.
I.e. gathering sentences or phrases may be subjected to the liguistic rules as well as to the grammatical rules. The language is tast like you eating good foods or drinks.
Happy to commuicate you, but havn’t wast of time. For this last sentence I omit something " I am" this is called non finite.