One of the biggest challenges in the syntactic analysis of comparative constructions lies in the fact that comparators (e.g., German -er, Italian più) and standard markers (e.g., German als, Italian di) evidently form a discontinuous unit. Capturing this discontinuity has occupied research on comparative constructions for decades. This study proposes, on one hand, an embedding of the unit consisting of the comparator and the standard marker into the complement position of the restrictor. On the other hand, the linearization of the comparative construction is explained by the assumption of additional mechanisms motivated by the connection between the functional structure and the semantics of the restrictor. These are formalized within the framework of the probe model of recent minimalism. Differences in the distribution of comparators are accounted for by the late insertion of Distributed Morphology.