comparison without than

[manhhiep2509]

In manhattan sentence correction book the author says that "do not use a comparative adjective unless you have a than in the sentence". However, in some case I cannot find a way to correct a sentence using such adjective without than. For example:

A and B are of no less importance to C.

Please explain the use of comparison in this sentence.

[RonPurewal]

I'm not familiar with the term "comparative adjective", but, from your question, I'll infer that it means more, less, better, worse, etc. (If this is wrong, please clarify, thanks.)

If both parts of the comparison are mentioned in the same part of the sentence, then, yes, you should have "than".
I like bland food better than spicy food, although many people have the opposite taste.

If one part of the comparison is mentioned elsewhere -- so that the comparison is actually implicit once it's there -- then you don't have "than".
Although many people prefer spicy food, I like bland food better.

[manhhiep2509]

I'm not familiar with the term "comparative adjective", but, from your question, I'll infer that it means more, less, better, worse, etc. (If this is wrong, please clarify, thanks.)

If both parts of the comparison are mentioned in the same part of the sentence, then, yes, you should have "than".
I like bland food better than spicy food, although many people have the opposite taste.

If one part of the comparison is mentioned elsewhere -- so that the comparison is actually implicit once it's there -- then you don't have "than".
Although many people prefer spicy food, I like bland food better.

Hi Ron.

I quoted exactly what Manhattan SC book says about the use of comparative forms in page 131.
This is an example of the above-mentioned structure:

While the relative costs of concrete and steel are a predominant consideration in the design of a skyscraper, of no less importance to civil engineers are the time needed to fabricate the structural elements and the distance of the project site from the production sites of the raw materials.

Is the structure correct in GMAT?

[RonPurewal]

That would be fine. It works exactly like Although many people prefer spicy food, I like bland food better -- just with a lot more words.

Remember, there's no such thing as "correct on the GMAT" -- the GMAT does not have its own special brand of English. Rather, the issue is whether these things are correct in normal written English.