"that" (The winter of New York is much severer than that of Tokyo.)

[alv]

Is this OK?

The winter of New York is much severer than that of Tokyo.

[Mister Micawber]

.
Yes.
.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mister Micawber

[Molly]

Is it "much severer" or "more severe"?

[alv]

[alv]

[Molly]

I also don't know. Let's see if Mr M answers.

[Yankee]

.
You can say either 'severer' or you can say 'more severe'. Both are acceptable as the comparative form of the adjective 'severe'.

You can add the word 'much' to a comparative form in order to indicate a large difference. So you can also say 'much severer' or you can say 'much more severe'.

The word 'severe' (alone) is not a comparative form and therefore 'much severe' does not work in your sentence.
.
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[Molly]

[prezbucky]

I suppose both are fine.

However, due to the difficulty of pronouncing "severer" (hehe), many Americans might prefer "more severe".

hehe

[prezbucky]

President Bush would bring the laughs if he tried to say "severer".