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Can we use 'adverb' before pronoun?

As we know adverbs are normally used to modify 'other adverbs' , 'verbs', and 'adjectives'. e.g (I'm feeling a lot better today.)

I consider 'a lot and 'much' as adverbs and 'more' as pronoun in the following. Is my analysis OK?

I earn a lot more than my sister does.

I have a lot more in common with my friends than my family.

I can't stand much more of this.

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    I suggest you post this over on English Language & Usage. It's splitting hairs whether some part of speech is an adverb or an adjective, what's important is how to use it effectively in communication. Aside from your technical question, is there any reason why you are having trouble using this idiom?
    – Andrew
    Commented Oct 27, 2016 at 20:57
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    more is not a pronoun. A pronoun is a word that stands for another word. More does not stand for another word. I earn a lot more=Subject [I] + Verb [earn] + a lot [adverb] + more [adjective]. Perhaps you should brush up on pronouns.
    – Lambie
    Commented Oct 27, 2016 at 21:19
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    If more can't be a pronoun (in traditional grammar), a lot of dictionaries must label the part of speech of more wrong. Let's take Oxford Dictionaries, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/more; more in an example (Tell me more.) is clearly marked as pronoun.
    – Damkerng T.
    Commented Oct 27, 2016 at 21:50
  • I earn MORE [money] than my sister does. MORE is not a pronoun there. It's an adjective. More does not stand for pronoun in this example.
    – Lambie
    Commented Oct 27, 2016 at 23:08
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    @Lambie You'll have to contend with lots of dictionaries e.g. the OED which has: "B. pron. I. Something greater. 1. As a comparative corresponding to much: something that is more." It's a determinative, too, and there's squabbling here and there, but in things like "It costs more" it's a pronoun.
    – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica
    Commented Oct 27, 2016 at 23:14

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More is a indefinite pronoun in one of your examples, but much and a lot are not adverbs here.

In:

I can't stand much more of this.

..."Much" is not an adverb. It is a determinative, and it in turn modifies the determinative more. This means that much more is a noun phrase and it quantifies the pronoun this which is the object of the preposition in the comparative phrase more of.

In this sentence, more is an indefinite pronoun serving as the object of the verb earn:

I earn a lot more than my sister does.

Here, "a lot" is also not an adverb but a determinative phrase (DP) that modifies the indefinite pronoun more in the comparative phrase more than.

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  • a lot replaces much or more in English: a lot of money, much money// a lot of apples, many apples. In that sense, a lot of money is actually adjectival.
    – Lambie
    Commented Oct 28, 2016 at 13:57

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