COMMON ERROR 5: COMPARISON OF DISIMILAR OBJECTS

2 objects within a comparison must be of the same kind.

WRONG His wages were lower than a shop attendant.
RIGHT His wages were lower than a shop attendant’s.

WRONG The value has increased far more than the Jalan Guat Sim home.
RIGHT The value has increased far more than that of the Jalan Guat Sim home.

A variant of this error occurs when something is compared with the whole class it belongs to.

WRONG
Creative writing is more interesting than any subject taught in a National university.
RIGHT
Creative writing is more interesting than any other subject taught in a National university.

The implication of the former is that creative writing is not taught at any National university, which is incorrect.