English Language & Usage Asked on November 8, 2020
I tried to differentiate the following:
i) The amount of A will not be matched by that of B.
ii) The amount of A will be unmatched by that of B.
Is it correct to say that: ii) only suggests that B’s amount will be greater; whereas i) shows at least two possibilities—either B’s will be greater or A will be greater.
I am not sure that it seems that "not matched by" suggests a difference, unlike "unmatched" which shows one is greater than the other.
Could anyone help explain? Thanks!
Among the many meanings of match, two are relevant: one of equality and one of implied comparison.
a match =
a person or thing that is equal to another person or thing in strength, speed, or quality:
"We are matched in strength"
to be less powerful or effective than someone or something else:
"Gibson ran well but was no match for the young Italian."
Therefore, either of your statements may be understood simply to say that A and B are not equal, without making any comparison.
And either may be understood to imply that A and B are unequal. Which is the bigger may only be understood from context and not by the order in which A and B appear in the sentence. Consider:
"The beans in a jug are unmatched/not matched by the beans in a silo."
"The beans in a silo are unmatched/not matched by the beans in a jug."
The order of A and B is irrelevant; we understand from each statement that a silo holds much more than a jug.
Answered by Anton on November 8, 2020
Get help from others!
Recent Answers
Recent Questions
© 2024 TransWikia.com. All rights reserved. Sites we Love: PCI Database, UKBizDB, Menu Kuliner, Sharing RPP