“More than” Vs “greater than” -Need help.. Grammar gurus

[ankit1383]

I need to get a clear understanding of rules related to comparison and usage
of “More than” and “greater than”.

RULE#1
Use ‘greater than’ when DESCRIBING NUMBERS
We normally say - "Value x is 5 times greater than Value 5" and not "Value x
is 5 Times more than Value y". Here X represents a number (density of wolf,
number of birds etc)

Example#1
A wildlife expert predicts that the reintroduction of the caribou into northern
Minnesota will fail if the density of thetimber wolf population in that region is
greater than one wolf for every 39 square miles.

Here density of the timber wolf population=a number
Note –density is a non count noun

Example#2
The gyrfalcon, an Arctic bird of prey, has survived a close brush with
extinction; its numbers are now five times greater than when the use of DDT
was sharply restricted in the early 1970’s.
Note –numbers is a count noun (plural)

Example#3 (Note the Comparison)
The area of Chicago is greater than that of Portland
Note –area is a non count noun

Example#3 (Note the Comparison)
I have greaternumber of oranges than apples

RULE#2
DESCRIBING NUMBER OF OBJECTS USE MORE
There are more than one dozen fishes in this aquarium

RULE#3
Making Comparison (people/talent etc) use more
I have more apples than bananas [apples/bananas –count]
I have more talent than fame [talent/fame –non count]
There are more people in the Chicago than in Portland [people =count]
I love you more than I love anything else’
He is more talented than his brother

I read somewhere that “"greater" is for uncountable and "more" for countable items. Is this true?

Questions...
Aging is a property of animal that reach a fixed size at maturity and the variations in life spans among different species are far greater/more than those the same species: a fruit fly is ancient at 40

Because the earth's crust is more solid there and thus better able to transmit shock waves, an earthquake of a given magnitude typically devastates an area 100 times greater/more in the eastern US than it does in the west.

At the start of the American Revolution the British not only outnumbered the Americans both at sea and on land, but also had greater/more financial resources

Please do tell if we can stick to any rule while differentiating between more/greater usage

Appreciate feedback

[ankit1383]

someone explain.....

[pnk]

Can some expert respond. thx

[2010gmat]

i think in all the three cases you mentioned greater than is the right choice...

i am unable to come up with an explanation .. experts can you pls pitch in and share the gyan?

[kiennguyen]

i can't figure out which one better in third examples. an interesting question!!!
please help

[Reva]

grammar gurus please help us

I need to get a clear understanding of rules related to comparison and usage
of �More than� and �greater than�.

RULE#1
Use �greater than� when DESCRIBING NUMBERS
We normally say - "Value x is 5 times greater than Value 5" and not "Value x
is 5 Times more than Value y". Here X represents a number (density of wolf,
number of birds etc)

Example#1
A wildlife expert predicts that the reintroduction of the caribou into northern
Minnesota will fail if the density of thetimber wolf population in that region is
greater than one wolf for every 39 square miles.

Here density of the timber wolf population=a number
Note �density is a non count noun

Example#2
The gyrfalcon, an Arctic bird of prey, has survived a close brush with
extinction; its numbers are now five times greater than when the use of DDT
was sharply restricted in the early 1970�s.
Note �numbers is a count noun (plural)

Example#3 (Note the Comparison)
The area of Chicago is greater than that of Portland
Note �area is a non count noun

Example#3 (Note the Comparison)
I have greaternumber of oranges than apples

RULE#2
DESCRIBING NUMBER OF OBJECTS USE MORE
There are more than one dozen fishes in this aquarium

RULE#3
Making Comparison (people/talent etc) use more
I have more apples than bananas [apples/bananas �count]
I have more talent than fame [talent/fame �non count]
There are more people in the Chicago than in Portland [people =count]
I love you more than I love anything else�
He is more talented than his brother

I read somewhere that �"greater" is for uncountable and "more" for countable items. Is this true?

Questions...
Aging is a property of animal that reach a fixed size at maturity and the variations in life spans among different species are far greater/more than those the same species: a fruit fly is ancient at 40

Because the earth's crust is more solid there and thus better able to transmit shock waves, an earthquake of a given magnitude typically devastates an area 100 times greater/more in the eastern US than it does in the west.

At the start of the American Revolution the British not only outnumbered the Americans both at sea and on land, but also had greater/more financial resources

Please do tell if we can stick to any rule while differentiating between more/greater usage

Appreciate feedback