Can we compare a noun with a verb in Japanese?


Consider the following sentence.

> A:「足が出る」と（いうの）は出費が予定していた **より** 多くなることだ。

It seems to me that this sentence compares a noun 出費 with a verb 予定していた.

Let us compare it with a simpler example comparing a noun with another noun as
follows.

> B: 熱いミルクは冷たいミルク **より** おいしい。Hot milk is more delicious than cold one.

Is it grammatically correct in Japanese to compare a verb with a noun as in
sentence A?




In English, you can compare a noun with an action, for example

> I spent more money than I expected/planned/thought I would spend.

Just because there is no noun after the conjunction **than** doesn't mean it
is not a comparative sentence. The same logic applies to the sentence.

> 足が出るとは To make a loss means (Literally, what we call 足が出る is)
>
> 出費が予定していたより多くなることだ。Expenses become bigger than we have been planning.

Here, the comparison is expenses vs (expenses) we have been planning (to
spend).

