A verb following 'than' without a subject

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Asked 4 years, 7 months ago

Modified 4 years, 7 months ago

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'Previous studies have found that children living on farms have a wider range of microbial exposures than occurs in the reference groups'

Is the verb directly following 'than' without a subject grammatically correct?
Are there any words possibly omitted between 'than' and 'occurs'?
Is there any other examples of conjunctions after which a subject can be omitted?

asked Feb 9, 2020 at 9:25

thejadelight

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1. No, a root verb would have to be preceded by an auxiliary verb like does. 2. The omitted words understood are "the range of microbial exposures that."'
– user105719
Commented Feb 9, 2020 at 9:32
No: comparative clauses are finite (tensed) ones. "Occurs in the reference groups" is a comparative clause and hence requires a primary (tensed) verb-form. Yes: like most comparative clauses, it is obligatorily reduced. Here the NP "the range of microbial exposures" is missing, but understood.
– BillJ
Commented Feb 9, 2020 at 9:52
oops, I edited my question a little bit. Thank you for your replies and hope you could help me further.
– thejadelight
Commented Feb 9, 2020 at 14:02

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