Need some help on the question below. "California was settled sooner than many Western states. The promise of gold first drew miners and settlers. Good climate and fertile land held them there (more successfully, most successfully) though." I know you use more when comparing 2 things and most when comparing more than 2 things but I'm confused the way the sentece reads which it would be. Thanks.
The promise of gold first drew miners and settlers. Good climate and fertile land held them there more successfully, though.
I would choose "more" because you are mentioning more than one thing more important than gold for drawing and keeping people in California.
In addition, the comparison can be seen as the successful hold on these miners and settlers between 1) California and 2) any other Western state.
That first sentence in the passage you were given has a logic error in it! "California was settled sooner than many Western states" - since California is also a Western state, how can it be compared to itself and all the others, too. It should read like this: ... than many other Western states.
I know, picky picky!!
The promise of gold firstly drew miners and settlers. Is the adverb first or firstly?
To determine whether to use "more" or "most" in this sentence, we need to consider the number of things being compared. In this case, we are comparing California to multiple other Western states. Since there are more than two states being compared, we should use "most."
Therefore, the correct phrase to use in the sentence is "most successfully." This implies that California was successful in retaining settlers and miners, more so than the other Western states.
In summary, when comparing multiple items, use "most" instead of "more."