than when...

[musicgold]

Hi,

Is this use of ‘than when’ common and natural?

Nothing worse than when a guy starts hanging around his friend's girlfriend.

Thanks,

MG.

Teachers only please.

 

[Nightmare85]

Teachers only please.

You should not make such requests.
As you can see no one has replied so far.

If you would like to know my opinion:
I think your sentence is okay, but I would add an "is".
Nothing is worse than when a guy starts hanging around his friend's girlfriend.
(It sounds more natural to me.)

**Neither a teacher nor a native speaker.**

Just ignore my post if you only want teachers' opinions, but don't expect it because you are the only one with special requests.


Cheers!

 

[Barb_D]

The original without the "is" is a casual way of saying it. More formal would be "There is nothing worse." Nightmare's change makes it more grammatical. However, that's not the main point.

"When a guy ... girlfriend" is acting as a noun phrase.

There is nothing worse than X. X = noun.
There is nothing worse than [when a guy... girlfriend].

EDIT: Oops. Not a teacher either.

Should I delete both of our replies?

 

[BobK]

The original without the "is" is a casual way of saying it. More formal would be "There is nothing worse." Nightmare's change makes it more grammatical. However, that's not the main point.

"When a guy ... girlfriend" is acting as a noun phrase.

There is nothing worse than X. X = noun.
There is nothing worse than [when a guy... girlfriend].

EDIT: Oops. Not a teacher either.
Should I delete both of our replies?

Nah - you both make good points. As long as Nightmare (or anyone else) makes it clear that they're not a teacher, it's up to the OP to filter the replies.

Note, in general 'than when' is OK. It has two uses:

• general - 'Nothing worse than when a guy... girlfriend'
• specific - 'He was never happier than when he was gardening'

I'd guess that the general usage is considered less formal, but they're both quite grammatical.

b

 

[musicgold]

Thanks folks.

EDIT: Oops. Not a teacher either.
Should I delete both of our replies?

Sorry folks, didn't mean to offend anybody. However, in my last couple of questions, some members made imcomplete comments (or asked an additional question), which were not at all useful to me. I think that reply counts greater than 0 might have led the teachers/experts to believe that the questions had been answered already.

That is why I figured I would rather wait for an expert's response than have some incomplete comments.

Cheers !

MG.

 

[mmasny]

Thanks folks.



Sorry folks, didn't mean to offend anybody. However, in my last couple of questions, some members made imcomplete comments (or asked an additional question), which were not at all useful to me. I think that reply counts greater than 0 might have led the teachers/experts to believe that the questions had been answered already.

That is why I figured I would rather wait for an expert's response than have some incomplete comments.

Cheers !

MG.

This is a forum for us all. If someone wants to ask an additional question, why shouldn't they? When you see your post going into oblivion you can send a PM to someone or more someones to make them answer.