1.The more mistakes the doctor makes, the more the patient suffers.
2.The more the doctor makes mistakes, the more the patient suffers.
Are these two sentences different in meaning? Do I always need to follow "noun" after "more"?
There is a theoretical difference, but a small one.
"The more mistakes the doctor makes, the more the patient suffers" means that there is a relationship between the number of mistakes and the degree to which the patient suffers.
"The more the doctor makes mistakes, the more the patient suffers" refers to the relationship between the frequency of mistakes and the degree to which the patient suffers.
In reality, a high number of mistakes corresponds to a high frequency of mistakes, so the sentences mean effectively the same thing.
Are these two sentences different in meaning?
In short, yes, there is a slight difference, the first sentence highlighted "mistakes" using Preposing structure.
These sentences use Preposing, Parallelism and Double Comparatives:
Double comparatives are phrases commonly used in English to express increasing or decreasing returns. Double comparatives are often employed to underline the importance of doing or not doing a certain activity.
The (more / less) + (noun / noun phrase) subject + verb + , + the (more / less) + (noun) subject + verb
So, the second statement follow this pattern:
The more(comparative expression) the doctor(subject) makes(verbs) mistakes ...
Let's take look at this clause:
The doctor makes mistakes
We can used Preposing to move the direct object of a clause to the head to make it the focus.
Mistakes the doctor makes
The more mistakes the doctor makes, the more the patient suffers.
Do I always need to follow "noun" after "more"?
You can use prepositional phrase, adjective and adverb after more: Cambridge Dictionary
The more I tried, the more words I rejected, the more furious I got.
