Where should I place more?

Question

1. I was upset more than I thought I would be.

2. I was more upset than I thought I would be.

I am not sure which of those sentences is the correct one. The first one is more used, I think, but it is probable that I heard the second sentence, too.

3. I used it more.

4. I more used it.

Also, here. Is the former correct, or is the latter correct?

And finally here.

5. I was more upset about it than you can possibly imagine.

6. I was upset more about it than you can possibly imagine.

7. I was upset about it more than you can possibly imagine.

Since this more is used as an adverb, it just confuses me so much, as adverbs are so flexible. Furthermore, I think there are differences in meaning if all of them are correct, which I cannot quite grasp.

I'm so sorry if it is an off topic, but I am so confused now. I apologize and thank you guys in advance.

Answer 1

Numbers 1 and 2

1 doesn't sound too right — I would think 'I was upset more than I had thought I would be' — having the 'had' perfects the past tense sound. But overall 2 sounds correct with its grammar.

Numbers 3 and 4

3 sounds right and would be used. 4 doesn't sound right 'I more used it' you first put the action and then after the action you put the adverb after it.

I know there are many exceptions to the rules in English and sometimes you can put the words before others if it sounds right — but here it doesn't sound right at all.

I.e 'The more you eat' sounds right 'The more happy you are' — here you would not say 'more happy' as it seems odd, instead you would transform 'happy' into 'happier' so — 'The happier you are'.

Questions 5,6,7

This is rather tricky to answer because they all, more or less, will get across how you feel. There isn't a major problem — often someone will say an English sentence and even if its grammar isn't totally correct — the message behind it will still be understood. But it is always best to be precise in what you are saying so there are no misunderstandings. So I would say 6 seems to be correct because the first one seems wrong compared to 6 and 7 and 7 sounds like you are indicating that you were 'more upset' than someone or something else (comparing emotions).

Answer 2

I don't believe #1 is incorrect, but #2 is definitely far more common. #1 sounds slightly awkward.

Example 3 is used more often than #4. I would call #4 incorrect.

Example 5 is the best, but #7 is perfectly good too. #6 is either incorrect or just extremely uncommon.

Answer 3

You usually put the word "more" as an adverb in front of an adjective. So the sentence #1 is OK.

The adverb more modifies the verb used; it should come after the verb. So the sentence #3 is OK.

Here, the sentence #5 is OK. The adverb more modifies the adjective upset; it's used with the expression adverb + adjective.