Does もっと act on nouns or predicates or both?


> もっと本を読みなさい  
>  Read more books  
>  もっと対策をだれか考えてよ  
>  Someone think of some more countermeasures

When I first learnt もっと it was in the context of modifying a predicate e.g.
もっと速く = faster. So in the example sentences above I'm unsure whether もっと
modifies the noun or the verb. Is it 'read (more books)' or (do more reading)
of books.

Can もっと mean 'additional' e.g.

> ここにはもっと本がある  
>  There are more books here (compared to elsewhere)

I feel this is wrong. I want to write もっと多くの本 or something like that.

But I also saw this sentence:

> もっとお茶はいかがですか

and I can't see what もっと could be modifying here except 'tea'.




「もっと」 certainly can modify nouns, but _**not**_ the nouns used in your
examples like 「本{ほん}」、「対策{たいさく}」 or 「お茶{ちゃ}」. You are indeed letting the
English translations get in your way of understanding Japanese on a deeper
level. (You are not the only one who does this, I assure you. I myself did the
same when studying English.)

While " _ **Read more books**_." may be a valid translation of 「もっと本を読みなさい。」,
it is not what the Japanese sentence means to us Japanese-speakers. It means "
_ **Read books more**_." to us. In other words, 「もっと」 modifies the verb
「読みなさい」, not the noun 「本」.

The exact same thing can be said about your other sentences. **What word is
modifying what word can and should only be determined from the Japanese
original, not from the English translations**.

"Think of countermeasures more." > "Think of more countermeasures."

"There are books more." > "There are more books"

, etc.

Which one of the pair sounds better and/or more natural in English is
completely irrelevant in the discussion of Japanese grammar and vice versa.
Some things are always lost in translation.

What nouns can 「もっと」 modify, then? **Those are the nouns that can be discussed
in terms of degrees, not in terms of quantities**. Those nouns include
「右{みぎ}」、「左{ひだり}」、「上{うえ}」、「下{した}」、any one of 「東西南北」, etc. 「もっと右」 = "further
right", 「もっと南」 = "further south", etc.

Hope you can see the difference between those nouns above and nouns such as
「本」、「お茶」, etc.

> Can もっと mean 'additional'?

No, it can't for the reasons I just explained.

> 「ここにはもっと本がある。」

"There are more books here (compared to elsewhere)." is just someone's
translation. (Yours?) In the Japanese original, 「もっと」 modifies 「ある」, not 「本」.

Finally, a brief talk on what other things 「もっと」 can modify...

  * i-adjectives: 「もっと **かわいい** 子」 ("a cuter girl")
  * na-adjectives: 「もっと **きれいな** 子」 ("a prettier girl")
  * verbs: 「もっと食{た}べたい」 ("I want to eat more.")
  * adverbs: 「もっと **しっかり** 勉強{べんきょう}しなさい。」 ("Study harder!")

> 「もっとお茶はいかがですか。」

In this sentence, 「もっと」 modifies 「いかが」. It can because 「いかが」 is an adverb.




「もっと」 certainly can modify nouns, but _**not**_ the nouns used in your
examples like 「本{ほん}」、「対策{たいさく}」 or 「お茶{ちゃ}」. You are indeed letting the
English translations get in your way of understanding Japanese on a deeper
level. (You are not the only one who does this, I assure you. I myself did the
same when studying English.)

While " _ **Read more books**_." may be a valid translation of 「もっと本を読みなさい。」,
it is not what the Japanese sentence means to us Japanese-speakers. It means "
_ **Read books more**_." to us. In other words, 「もっと」 modifies the verb
「読みなさい」, not the noun 「本」.

The exact same thing can be said about your other sentences. **What word is
modifying what word can and should only be determined from the Japanese
original, not from the English translations**.

"Think of countermeasures more." > "Think of more countermeasures."

"There are books more." > "There are more books"

, etc.

Which one of the pair sounds better and/or more natural in English is
completely irrelevant in the discussion of Japanese grammar and vice versa.
Some things are always lost in translation.

What nouns can 「もっと」 modify, then? **Those are the nouns that can be discussed
in terms of degrees, not in terms of quantities**. Those nouns include
「右{みぎ}」、「左{ひだり}」、「上{うえ}」、「下{した}」、any one of 「東西南北」, etc. 「もっと右」 = "further
right", 「もっと南」 = "further south", etc.

Hope you can see the difference between those nouns above and nouns such as
「本」、「お茶」, etc.

> Can もっと mean 'additional'?

No, it can't for the reasons I just explained.

> 「ここにはもっと本がある。」

"There are more books here (compared to elsewhere)." is just someone's
translation. (Yours?) In the Japanese original, 「もっと」 modifies 「ある」, not 「本」.

Finally, a brief talk on what other things 「もっと」 can modify...

  * i-adjectives: 「もっと **かわいい** 子」 ("a cuter girl")
  * na-adjectives: 「もっと **きれいな** 子」 ("a prettier girl")
  * verbs: 「もっと食{た}べたい」 ("I want to eat more.")
  * adverbs: 「もっと **しっかり** 勉強{べんきょう}しなさい。」 ("Study harder!")

> 「もっとお茶はいかがですか。」

In this sentence, 「もっと」 modifies 「いかが」. It can because 「いかが」 is an adverb.

