为好题老师的解答点赞。下面我把剑桥语法p1122有关择比结构的论述摘引如下，其中metalinguistic comparison就是择比结构。

Metalinguistic comparison (more apparent than real )

Examples like The problem was more apparent than real differ both syntactically and

semantically from the ordinary comparisons discussed so far. These differences are seen

in:

[1] i Ed is older than his brother.              [ordinary comparison]

ii Ed is older than middle-aged.               [ordinary comparison]

iii Ed is more old than middle-aged.        [metalinguistic comparison]

In [i] we have a variable comparison between the degree to which Ed is old and the

degree to which his brother is old. In [ii] we have a variable–constant comparison (like

Kim is taller than six foot): middle-aged denotes a segment on the scale expressed by

old and [ii] puts his age beyond that part of the scale. What [iii] says, however, is that

Ed is more properly described as old than as middle-aged: we call this metalinguistic

comparison because it is concerned not with segments on the age scale but with the

relative applicability of the linguistic expressions old and middle-aged.

Syntactically, metalinguistic comparison differs from ordinary comparison in that it

allows only analytic comparative forms: older in [ii], for example, excludes this

metalinguistic interpretation. The construction here also excludes a comparative clause as

complement to than/as: *Ed is more old than he is middle-aged.

Other examples of metalinguistic comparison are:

[2] i The office of Lord High Commissioner is now more ornamental than functional.

ii The buds were more red than pink.

iii He was more dead than alive.

iv It was more an error of judgement than a case of negligence.

v She had spoken more in sorrow than in anger.

The commonly used expression illustrated in [iii] brings out the point that this kind of

comparison can be used with non-gradable adjectives (contrast the ordinary comparison

# He was more dead than we’d expected). The most obvious examples of metalinguistic

comparison involve adjectives, where – at least with shorter ones – we can contrast the

permitted analytic form (more red) with the excluded inflectional one (redder). But the

category certainly applies more generally, as evident from [iv] (NPs) and [v] (PPs).

Note, however, that this construction does not apply to verbs: *We more expect than

require you to make a contribution.

Semantically similar to the above core cases of metalinguistic comparison are:

[3] i He’s old rather than middle-aged.

ii He’s not so much stupid as lazy.

These may be contrasted with the ordinary comparisons I intend to do it my way rather

than yours or I haven’t got so much patience as you.

我们可以根据这段论述总结以下几点：

1 择比结构不同于普通比较结构之处在于说话人关心的不是二个事物的某种性质程度上的差异，而是语言表达上用词的适用性问题。

2 择比结构中的比较级只能是分析式，不能是屈折式。例如 He is more lazy than stupid.  不能用lazier。

3 即使不可分级的形容词（不能用于普通比较结构）也可以用于择比结构。例如：He is more dead than alive.

4 择比结构的than/as后不能接完整的比较分句。例如：He is more dead than he is alive. (错误）必须删去he is。

5 择比结构可以比较形容词（最常见）、名词、介词短语，但不能比较动词。如： *We more expect than

require you to make a contribution.

6 more...than...是核心的择比结构，其次rather than... 和 not so much... as...也是常用的择比结构。

网友的这个句子中：He respects me more than he loves me. than后接的是完整的比较分句，这就可以排除择比结构，而是普通的比较结构。意为：他尊重我胜于爱我。如果要表示择比意义，即与其说他爱我，不如说他尊重我，则需要用rather than结构。例如: He respects me rather than loving me.