Please look at this English text …
Local residents claim that San Antonio, Texas, has more good Mexican American restaurants than does any other city in the United States.
I don’t like the above . I’d love this way…
Local residents claim that San Antonio, Texas, has more good Mexican American restaurants than any city does in the United States.
It seems to me perfect …Is this wrong in english ? Could you please help me whether my construction is wrong ?
I would say “…than any other city in the United States.” The first examples works okay, but the “does” is just not something you hear people say that often and sticks out a bit. The second one sounds a little weird without the word “other” in it. But I live in Austin, not San Antonio, so perhaps you aren’t seeking my input.
Actually, El Paso has the best restaurants.
The first version:
> Local residents claim that San Antonio, Texas, has more good Mexican American
> restaurants than does any other city in the United States.
sounds good.
The version suggested by HowieReynolds:
> Local residents claim that San Antonio, Texas, has more good Mexican American
> restaurants than any other city in the United States.
sounds slightly better.
The version you suggest:
> Local residents claim that San Antonio, Texas, has more good Mexican American
> restaurants than any city does in the United States.
definitely sounds weird. It sounds, in fact, like what someone who isn’t a native speaker of English would write.
themajestic, how many of these threads are you going to start? Asking these questions on the SDMB isn’t an efficient use of your time or our time. The most efficient use of your time would be simply to read as much well-written English-language texts as possible. The second most efficient use would be to find a course in advanced English-language composition where you live and take it. A good English writing teacher would be better able to teach you to write (and read) well in English than we can.
Incidentally, you should give names to your threads which indicate that your questions are about English grammar and style, not about restaurant recommendations (or whatever the example sentence is about).
Don’t split the phrase, “any other city in the United States”. Put the “does” either before or after. I prefer before, as in the original text.
Leaving “does” out completely sounds vaguely ungrammatical; my mind hesitates before parsing it correctly. If you told me, “Gates has more employees than Jobs,” it would take me longer to figure out what you were saying than if you had said, “Gates has more employees than Jobs does.”
Your preferred sentence looks awkward, but it also implies a logical impossibility (assuming “United States” = USA and not the United States of Mexico).
San Antonio, Texas is a city in the United States. Therefore it cannot have more good Mexican American restaurants than any city in the United States, since it doesn’t have more good Mexican American restaurants than San Antonio, Texas – it has exactly the same number.
That is why the word “other” is necessary, as used in your first example.