rather than

[hongy...@gmail.com]

As far as the following sentence is concerned: They thus increased their annual grain production rather than diminished it.

Can I omit the "rather than", i.e., change it into the following form: They thus increased their annual grain production, diminished it.

Regards,
HZ

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Monday, September 20, 2021 at 5:47:22 AM UTC-4, hongy...@gmail.com wrote:

> As far as the following sentence is concerned: They thus increased their annual grain production rather than diminished it.
>
> Can I omit the "rather than", i.e., change it into the following form: They thus increased their annual grain production, diminished it.

Of course not. The sentence offers the contrast between increasing
and diminishing production. It is not possible to simultaneously
increase and decrease the same thing.

This is not a question about English usage, but about common sense.

(I would prefer "rather than diminish it" in the original sentence. That may
be British vs. American.)

[hongy...@gmail.com]

But this will cause the problem of inconsistent tense: increased ... diminish ...

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

Me too, in BrE.

> That may
>be British vs. American.)

--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

[CDB]

No. "Rather than" indicates that the two alternatives ("increased" and
"diminished") are different; in this case they are opposites.

[Snidely]

On Monday or thereabouts, hongy...@gmail.com asked ...

Isn't this a use of an infinitive in the contrasting clause, rather
than a tense tension?

/dps

--
Ieri, oggi, domani

[Mark Brader]

Hongyi Zhao:

Plonk.
--
Mark Brader | "The only thing required for the triumph of darkness
Toronto | is for good men not to call Hydro."
m...@vex.net | --Michael Wares

[Peter Moylan]

Yes. I haven't looked at enough examples, but it seems to me that an
infinitive is usually required after "rather than".

These prepositional phrases seem to control what is allowed after them.
To change the example slightly, consider the example sentence

"They thus increased their annual grain production, instead of
diminishing it."

It is almost unthinkable to have a past tense follow "instead of".

--
Peter Moylan Newcastle, NSW http://www.pmoylan.org

[Peter T. Daniels]

Certainly.

> It is almost unthinkable to have a past tense follow "instead of".

Looks, then, like the constraint should be stated not as "an infinitive"
but as "a non-finite verb form."

[Jerry Friedman]

On Monday, September 20, 2021 at 9:01:10 PM UTC-6, Peter Moylan wrote:
> On 21/09/21 05:49, Snidely wrote:
> > On Monday or thereabouts, hongy...@gmail.com asked ...
> >> On Monday, September 20, 2021 at 8:53:40 PM UTC+8, Peter T. Daniels
> >> wrote:
> >>> On Monday, September 20, 2021 at 5:47:22 AM UTC-4,
> >>> hongy...@gmail.com wrote:
> >>>> As far as the following sentence is concerned: They thus
> >>>> increased their annual grain production rather than diminished
> >>>> it. Can I omit the "rather than", i.e., change it into the
> >>>> following form: They thus increased their annual grain
> >>>> production, diminished it.
> >>> Of course not. The sentence offers the contrast between
> >>> increasing and diminishing production. It is not possible to
> >>> simultaneously increase and decrease the same thing. This is not
> >>> a question about English usage, but about common sense. (I would
> >>> prefer "rather than diminish it" in the original sentence. That
> >>> may be British vs. American.)
> >>
> >> But this will cause the problem of inconsistent tense: increased
> >> ... diminish ...
> >
> > Isn't this a use of an infinitive in the contrasting clause, rather
> > than a tense tension?

> Yes. I haven't looked at enough examples, but it seems to me that an
> infinitive is usually required after "rather than".

...

At more formal levels, you can get away with a past or present tense,
especially if the "rather than" is immediately after the preceding verb.
For instance, "...I sensed rather than saw his grin." (Abbie Williams,
/Soul of a Crow/, 2017, via COCA.)

Examples with more words between the two verbs are rarer, and I
think show up more in speech than in writing.

"... history has proven that the legitimacy of the Bush presidency, I think
suffered from the Supreme Court's decision rather than was enhanced
by it..." (David Margolick on the radio program /Fresh Air/, 2004.)

In writing, I think a good writer might well not use "rather than" there.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Snidely]

Mark Brader pounded on thar keyboard to tell us

> Hongyi Zhao:
>> As far as the following sentence is concerned: They thus increased their
>> annual grain production rather than diminished it.
>>
>> Can I omit the "rather than", i.e., change it into the following form:
>> They thus increased their annual grain production, diminished it.
>
> Plonk.

TMI

--
I have always been glad we weren't killed that night. I do not know
any particular reason, but I have always been glad.
_Roughing It_, Mark Twain