If a part of one element has been omitted as ‘understood’, try inserting the ‘understood’ element and see if it really fits; alternatively, leave out second of the elements and see if the sentence still makes sense.
X. She is as talented, if not more talented than, any of the male riders in the team.
The two related components are not properly matched: to match more talented than, the earlier phrase should read as talented as. To see how the syntax has gone wrong, leave out all the parenthetical words between the two commas. The need for an extra as at once becomes apparent.
Similarly:
X. The performance of an alcohol-fuelled car is comparable – or slightly better – than that of a petrol car.
For the sake of symmetry, and syntax, a to should be added after comparable, and the sentence should be repunctuated: is comparable to – or slightly better than – that of a petrol car.
One final example of the common error in which a single preposition is applied to both parallel elements where it is in fact appropriate to only one:
X. Employers remain ignorant or uninterested in the abilities of polytechnic graduates.
Correct this so that it reads: Employers remain ignorant of or uninterested in the abilities of polytechnic graduates.
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