what are the differences in the usage of greater and more?
Please reason the correct ones out of the following
Ram is greater than 6 feet tall
Ram is more than 6 feet tall
Ram's height is greater than Shyam's
Ram's height is more than Shyam's
Ram's height is greater than 6 feet
Ram's height is more than 6 feet
Target Test Prep is 20% off right now!
Use code FLASH20
Available with Beat the GMAT members only code
MORE DETAILS
greater vs more
This topic has expert replies
-
confuse mind
- Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
- Posts: 462
- Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:08 pm
- Thanked: 10 times
- Followed by:4 members
-
sameerballani
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 544
- Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2010 8:10 am
- Thanked: 45 times
- Followed by:2 members
confuse mind wrote:what are the differences in the usage of greater and more?
greater is used for quantity
I think more can be used for both quantity and quality. Maintain parallelism(both logical and structural)
Please reason the correct ones out of the following
Ram is greater than 6 feet tall
Ram is more than 6 feet tall
i feel both are wrong. because of wrong comparison.
Ram's height is greater than Shyam's
Ram's height is more than Shyam's
i feel greater is correct. because heights are being compared and height is something that is measurable.
Ram's height is greater than 6 feet
Ram's height is more than 6 feet
GREATER. for the same reason as mentioned above.
-
Frankenstein
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 1448
- Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 9:55 am
- Location: India
- Thanked: 375 times
- Followed by:53 members
Hi,
Ram is more than 6 feet tall (I think this is correct)
I have seen similar usage many times.
Ram is more than 6 feet tall (I think this is correct)
I have seen similar usage many times.
Cheers!
Things are not what they appear to be... nor are they otherwise
Things are not what they appear to be... nor are they otherwise
-
sameerballani
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 544
- Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2010 8:10 am
- Thanked: 45 times
- Followed by:2 members
What about other options?Frankenstein wrote:Hi,
Ram is more than 6 feet tall (I think this is correct)
I have seen similar usage many times.
-
Frankenstein
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 1448
- Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 9:55 am
- Location: India
- Thanked: 375 times
- Followed by:53 members
Not sure.. greater vs more is pretty confusing for me.. Will wait for expert comments.sameerballani wrote:What about other options?Frankenstein wrote:Hi,
Ram is more than 6 feet tall (I think this is correct)
I have seen similar usage many times.
Cheers!
Things are not what they appear to be... nor are they otherwise
Things are not what they appear to be... nor are they otherwise
GMAT/MBA Expert
-
lunarpower
- GMAT Instructor
- Posts: 3380
- Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 am
- Thanked: 2256 times
- Followed by:1535 members
- GMAT Score:800
the following rule will work in the vast majority of cases:
* if you are dealing with a word that literally describes a numerical quantity (number, rate, height, length, volume, population, etc.), then you should use "greater".
The population of Colombia is greater than that of Argentina --> correct
The population of Colombia is more than that of Argentina --> incorrect
* if you are dealing with a word that describes some abstract characteristic of something (power, influence, effect, etc.), then you can use "a/an + greater" or "more" (the latter WITHOUT 'a/an').
John's father has had a greater influence on the development of his personality than has his mother. --> correct
The Prime Minister has more power than the King, even though the latter is the country's titular leader. --> correct
* if you are dealing with a word that describes things that you can actually count, then you should use "more".
I have more sports jerseys than anyone else I know --> correct
* if you are dealing with an uncountable noun that is NOT a numerical quantity, then you should use "more".
there is more furniture in this store than in the other one --> correct
* if you are dealing with a word that literally describes a numerical quantity (number, rate, height, length, volume, population, etc.), then you should use "greater".
The population of Colombia is greater than that of Argentina --> correct
The population of Colombia is more than that of Argentina --> incorrect
* if you are dealing with a word that describes some abstract characteristic of something (power, influence, effect, etc.), then you can use "a/an + greater" or "more" (the latter WITHOUT 'a/an').
John's father has had a greater influence on the development of his personality than has his mother. --> correct
The Prime Minister has more power than the King, even though the latter is the country's titular leader. --> correct
* if you are dealing with a word that describes things that you can actually count, then you should use "more".
I have more sports jerseys than anyone else I know --> correct
* if you are dealing with an uncountable noun that is NOT a numerical quantity, then you should use "more".
there is more furniture in this store than in the other one --> correct
this should be the second one (or "over 6 feet tall"). this example may not conform to the rules above; however, it is unlikely to be tested on the gmat.Ram is greater than 6 feet tall
Ram is more than 6 feet tall
height is a numerical quantity, so use "greater".Ram's height is greater than Shyam's
Ram's height is more than Shyam's
height is a numerical quantity, so use "greater".Ram's height is greater than 6 feet
Ram's height is more than 6 feet
Last edited by lunarpower on Mon Sep 14, 2015 7:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.
--
Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
Potete chiedere domande a Ron in italiano
On peut poser des questions à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi
--
Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.
Yves Saint-Laurent
--
Learn more about ron
--
Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
Potete chiedere domande a Ron in italiano
On peut poser des questions à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi
--
Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.
Yves Saint-Laurent
--
Learn more about ron
-
GMATMadeEasy
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 768
- Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2009 3:46 am
- Thanked: 21 times
- Followed by:7 members
ron, thanks . this might help a little to cover most of the cases.
Could you confirm whether this can be extended to lower and less ?
Excerpt fro one of your posts for lower:
LOWER: is generally used for numerical abstractions, such as level, quantity, rate, figure, percentage, proportion, etc. OR for things that aren't really numerical but still have higher and lower levels,
e.g., significance, importance, etc. Note that all of these quantities are actually Uncountable. for instance, you would say "less significance", not "fewer significance".
Could you confirm whether this can be extended to lower and less ?
Excerpt fro one of your posts for lower:
LOWER: is generally used for numerical abstractions, such as level, quantity, rate, figure, percentage, proportion, etc. OR for things that aren't really numerical but still have higher and lower levels,
e.g., significance, importance, etc. Note that all of these quantities are actually Uncountable. for instance, you would say "less significance", not "fewer significance".
GMAT/MBA Expert
-
lunarpower
- GMAT Instructor
- Posts: 3380
- Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 am
- Thanked: 2256 times
- Followed by:1535 members
- GMAT Score:800
not completely. for instance, the opposite of "a greater influence" is "a lesser influence", not "a lower influence", and the same goes for other abstractions of the sort mentioned in that paragraph of my previous post.GMATMadeEasy wrote:ron, thanks . this might help a little to cover most of the cases.
Could you confirm whether this can be extended to lower and less ?
the best way for you to get a handle of the way in which these things are used is simply to read lots and lots of stuff in which they are used -- i.e., just google something like "lower" or "a lower" and then go to page number 500 or something, so that you're seeing essentially random results. alternatively, you could do a site-specific search on the site of a publication that is generally known for writing of decent quality, such as the new york times.
e.g.
https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3An ... =firefox-a
the good thing about idioms like this is that they will rarely be misused by professional writers, so you can rest assured that whatever patterns you extract from your searching/reading are actually legitimate.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.
--
Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
Potete chiedere domande a Ron in italiano
On peut poser des questions à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi
--
Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.
Yves Saint-Laurent
--
Learn more about ron
--
Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
Potete chiedere domande a Ron in italiano
On peut poser des questions à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi
--
Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.
Yves Saint-Laurent
--
Learn more about ron
