Breakdown of La factura del gas es mucho más alta de lo que me dijeron.
ser
to be
de
from / of
mucho
many / a lot
alto
tall / high
del
from the / of the
que
that / than
me
to me / me (direct object)
más
more
la
the (feminine)
decir
to say, to tell
lo
the ... thing (neuter article)
la factura
bill
el gas
gas
Questions & Answers about La factura del gas es mucho más alta de lo que me dijeron.
Why do we use de lo que here instead of just que?
We use de lo que because we are comparing an adjective (alta) to a whole clause with a conjugated verb (me dijeron). If you were comparing two simple nouns, you'd use que (like más alta que la otra). But when the second part of the comparison is an entire phrase meaning 'than what was said', you need a clausal comparative like de lo que.
Since factura is feminine, why don't we use de la que?
In clausal comparatives, you use del que, de la que, etc., when referring to a specific noun (for example, if you were comparing this bill to another bill). However, here the comparison isn't about another bill. De lo que refers to the abstract statement or amount (what they told me). Abstract concepts and undefined amounts always take the neuter lo.
Why is it mucho más alta and not mucha más alta to match the feminine noun factura?
In this sentence, mucho acts as an adverb modifying the adjective phrase más alta to mean 'much more'. Adverbs never change their gender or number, so it stays mucho regardless of the noun. If it were an adjective directly describing a noun, it would change to match it (for example, mucha gasolina).
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