Use of 的

[Thomill]

Hello,

I am working my way through the initial level of Rosetta Stone. In section 4, I see the following examples:

这个女孩子的水果比这个男人少。

这个女孩子的水果比这个男孩子的多。

My question is, should the first sentence actually be:

这个女孩子的水果比这个男人的少。

Thank you.

[马盖云]

I would think so.

[Kenny同志]

Native speakers say both patterns, but I'd second 马盖云 because the latter is standard.

[anonymoose]

In Chinese, it is very common to omit part of the second thing being compared. This also happens in English, though it sounds sloppy. Compare these three sentences:

The area of China is larger than the area of Japan.

中国的面积比日本的面积大。

The area of China is larger than that of Japan.

中国的面积比日本的大。

The area of China is larger than Japan.

中国的面积比日本大。

[Thomill]

Thank you very much!