a) 关系代词在从句中是主语。

• You have more money than (= than the money that) is necessary.你的钱用不完。
• There are more things in heaven and earth than (= than the things which) are dreamt of in your philosophy.天地之间发生的许多事，是你在哲学中做梦也想不到的。
• Noah's personality had clearly changed, even more than (= than the personality that) appeared on the surface.诺亚的性格有了明显的改变，甚至改变得比表面看出来的更加厉害。
• The mild winter allowed more construction activity than (= than the construction activity that) would have normally occurred. (BusinessWeek)由于这个冬季气候温和，所以建筑工程比正常的时候多。
• More deals were made in this room over breakfast, lunch and cocktails than (= than the deals that) were consummated in all the offices of all the studios combined.在这个大厅，在早餐、午餐和鸡尾酒会当中做成的交易，比所有办公室和摄影棚里谈妥的交易还多。
• What is really unacceptable to us is if different standards are applied to us than (= than the standards that) are applied to other countries.我们确实无法接受的，是用于我们身上的标准，竟然不同于那些用于别的国家的标准。
• Even professional Hollywood child actors had more privacy, schooling and off-camera time than (= the privacy, schooling and off-camera time that) has been granted to Elián González.就连好莱坞的职业童星们，他们享有的隐私、学校教育和不上镜头的时间，也比埃利安·贡萨雷斯多。
• ... many more individuals of each species are born than (= than those that) can possibly survive; ... (Darwin, The Origin of Species)…每一物种生下来的个体，比之有可能生存的个体，数量大得多…

b) 关系代词在从句中是宾语。

• In places like Stalingrad, more people were lost in the siege of one city than (= than the people whom) Americans have lost in all their wars combined.在像斯大林格勒那样的地方，单单一座城市被围而损失的人数，就多于美国人在所有历次战争中加在一起损失的人数。
• We need simpler, less scientific words than (= than the words that) you're accustomed to using.我们需要比你们所习惯使用的更为通俗的、不那么科学腔的词语。
• What I want is a reasoned discussion and better causes for disagreeing with me than (= than the causes that) you've given already.我所需要的是合情合理的讨论，而且请诸位如果不同意我的看法，就提出比您所已经提出过的更为站得住的理由。
• These were magnificent gestures, but they were more than (= than the gestures that) the system could stand. (New York Review of Books, Nov. 4, 2004, p.29)这些姿态是很堂皇的，但是这个制度对之却无法容忍。
• The adjustment to having more time on her hands than (= than the time that) she could use did not come easily.调整到让她手头掌握有用不完的时间，是来之不易的。
• Some teachers have more control over pupils than (= than the control that) their parents have.有些老师对学生比家长更有控制力。
• In her new job, she would have less direct contact with Sam Hawthorne than (= than the direct contact that) she'd had for the preceding three years.她在新的职位上，同萨姆·霍桑的直接接触，就会比前三年少。

有时候关系代词在从句中是宾语，但是从句中的主语仍然带上助动词 do（而且颠倒在主语之前）代表谓语动词。

• His reasoning was that she had merely made a lucky, unscientific guess; Therefore she deserved no more intellectual credit than did the holder of a winning lottery ticket (= than the intellectual credit that the holder of a winning lottery ticket deserved).他的推理是：她只不过是碰巧猜中，不是凭科学猜出来的。因此，她在智力上的得分，并不超过一个持有中奖彩票的人。

c) 关系代词在从句中是表语。

• Monkeys are more distantly related to humans than are apes (= than apes are related to humans)猴子同人类的关系，比猿同人类的关系远了些。

d) than 所“包办代替”的名词成分，不是重复代替前面出现的名词，而是代表一个较空泛的名词成分如 what 之类（又兼关系代词 that）。

• The armor made it (=the car) a ton heavier than (= than what) was the norm for an S600 Benz.由于加了钢甲，车子比 S600 奔驰通常的重量重了一吨。
• The economy is more fragile than (= than what) might have been hoped. (US News & World Report, Set. 9, 2002, p 72)经济比本来能够希望的更为脆弱。
• The job was taking far longer than (= than what) he'd imagined. (Dan Brown, Digital Fortress, p.274)这个活儿拖的时间，比他所想像的要长得多。
• In fact, doctors are finding that psychosocial factors pose far greater risks than (= than what) they previously realized. (Newsweek, Oct. 3, 2005, p.51)的确，医生们正在发现，社会心理因素，引起的风险，远远大于他们从前所知道的。
• You've been too successful—or, rather far more successful than (= than what) anyone expected.你一直都太成功了，或者也可以说，比任何人所预料的都成功得多。

如果是 what is + pp，有时候 what is 可以省略。

• It's taking a bit longer than(= than what was) expected. (Dan Brown, Digital Fortress, p.253)拖的时间比预料的长了一点。