Is 'is' optional?
-He says the Athens will need more bailout money than initially calculated.
-He says the Athens will need more bailout money than is initially calculated.
Posted by Nightedge · July 4, 2015 · 2 replies
Is 'is' optional?
-He says the Athens will need more bailout money than initially calculated.
-He says the Athens will need more bailout money than is initially calculated.
a) It should be was, not is, but yes, it can be omitted
b) the is incorrect. The article is only used as part of a proper noun in a few cases - generally if the noun has an adjectival component - eg the Netherlands, the United Nations. There are exceptions, but Athens isn't one of them
c) You've given no context for this sentence, but if it was eg a newspaper report, it would be more usual to include that than to omit it, as the style would be neutral rather than informal.
So the sentence should be :
He says that Athens will need more bailout money than was initially calculated.
or
He says that Athens will need more bailout money than initially calculated.
Excellent answer. Thank you.