things turned out to be much better than expected.

这句话比较级+than没有引导从句不属于从属连词，那这个than属于哪一类连词？

   【答】这个than 还是属于连词。这里的than在从句中做主语，而且从句中省略了构成被动语态的助动词were,即：Things turned out to be much better than expected.= Things turned out to be much better than were expected.

又如，下面句子中的 was 可有可无：They came earlier than (was) expected. 他们比大家预料的来的要早些。（摘自《薄冰英语惯用法词典》p.1126）