More, more of, more than

Question

What difference is there in the meaning of senteces?

1. I think it's more of looking in the mirror.

2. I think it's more than looking in the mirror.

1. To get better, she must have more of a desire to live.

2. To get better, she must have the more desire to live.

Answer 1

"I think it's more of looking in the mirror." doesn't make any sense. Grammatically it's wrong. No 2 is correct here. "more of" is only used when speaking of a quantity of something - as in "more of them" or "more of the same" etc. If it's a plural noun you are refering to it's simply "more apples"  bananas etc - leaving out the "of"

"To get better, she must have the more desire to live" doesn't make any sense either - No 1 is correct here. You can't say "the more" but you could say "the most" in this instance.