have searched a lot... but couldn't find answers to my questions.
I know that mathematical inequalities say "greater than / less than / equal to "
but here in GMAT verbal, what should we use : less than OR lesser than?
Is lesser than grammatically correct ?
are there any different situations to use them ?
TIA.
less than OR lesser than
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- harshavardhanc
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lesser than is always incorrect. Use greater than when you intend to make a numerical comparison.
- harshavardhanc
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That's what I said in my post. I know the usage of greater than, but :osirus0830
lesser than is always incorrect. Use greater than when you intend to make a numerical comparison.
https://online.wsj.com/article/SB114411618421616144.html
https://www.times.com/books/99/01/24/rev ... ndelt.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01883.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSWNAS282620070301
I don't deny that headlines can be grammatically incorrect, but do you change your opinion now?
I may be overdosed by CR questions, but still..... I can't accept a "plain no". I will need a solid reasoning and will certainly appreciate it.
Last edited by harshavardhanc on Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
Regards,
Harsha
Harsha
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- lunarpower
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yeah, those headlines are awful. i didn't take the time to read the articles, though, so maybe there was a pun in there somewhere to justify the incorrect usage?
in any case, i don't think you're going to see "lesser than". if you're going to see "lesser", then you'll probably see it in almost exactly the same contexts in which you would see the word "best".
for instance:
action X is the lesser of two evils <--> action X is the best of the available options
smith has a lesser reputation than jones <--> smith has the best reputation in the group
there are contexts in which "lesser than" could be conceivably be grammatically correct, but i don't think those contacts are considered acceptable usage, ever.
for instance, i don't see any grammatical reason why we couldn't write
smith's reputation is lesser than jones's reputation
... but we just don't.
in any case, i don't think you're going to see "lesser than". if you're going to see "lesser", then you'll probably see it in almost exactly the same contexts in which you would see the word "best".
for instance:
action X is the lesser of two evils <--> action X is the best of the available options
smith has a lesser reputation than jones <--> smith has the best reputation in the group
there are contexts in which "lesser than" could be conceivably be grammatically correct, but i don't think those contacts are considered acceptable usage, ever.
for instance, i don't see any grammatical reason why we couldn't write
smith's reputation is lesser than jones's reputation
... but we just don't.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.
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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
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Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.
Yves Saint-Laurent
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Learn more about ron