The use of "the more important"

[Tom]

Hi

Could you please tell me when we use the with comparative adjectives? (without nouns) I have often seen:

[Alan]

Hi,

The additional 'the' in that sort of expression emphasizes the nature of the comparative. You are right to say: It is more important to ..' but imagine if you wanted to strengthen the additional importance you want to convey as in:

When you are learning a new language the more important it is to practise speaking it is.

There is a well known fairy story called Red Riding Hood about a little girl who goes to see her grandma but she has been gobbled up by a wolf and when the child sees the disguised wolf, she says: What big eyes you have! The wolf replies: all the easier to see you. What big teeth you have: Reply: All the better to eat you ...

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Yankee]

Hi Tom

Saying "It is the more important to..." only sounds wrong without any context that might possibly justify it. Are you sure you haven't been hearing this with the word "all" in it? One common expression is "all the more + adjective". In this expression, the words "all the" could be replaced by "even". In other words, the word "more" is intensified:

"The global credit crunch has made it all the more important for borrowers to make sure that they browse and compare different loans." (i.e. it was important before, but it is even more important now)

I suppose you might also find "the more important" used this way:
"Both his family and his job are important to him. However, the more important is his family."
.
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[Tom]

Many, many thanks to Alan and Amy for such prompt responses.

With due respect, I almost asked the same question beofore. I am really very surprised to see that MM and Alan gave the same examples.

http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic10913.html

Could I request a few more examples please?

Tom

[MrPedantic]

I would agree with Amy's comment about "all the more [adjective]".

It's quite difficult to think of an example that begins with "It is the more important to", where "all the more important" wouldn't seem more idiomatic.

Best wishes,

MrP

PS:

1. When you are learning a new language the more important it is to practise speaking it is.

Is there a typo there, Alan? It doesn't seem quite right to me.

[Molly]

-"I stood up, the better to see the state of the causeway, and made some rapid calculations."

-I like this one: "When Charles had first taken his brother to the summit Richard had been so young he still half-believed that a haggis was a little animal with one leg longer than the other, the better to run around mountainsides."

-And this: "The curving shapes are there but she is in her Sunday best, positively dripping in spires, swags, pilasters, finials, and coats of arms, the better to proclaim her respectability and superiority."

-"Laura paused, the better to relish the effect of her words, then added"

http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/