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Grammar Greater vs. More [#permalink]
 11 Jul 2007, 19:45
The number of fish is (greater/more) than 100.
There are (more/greater) than 100 fish.
Please advise. 
Last edited by bmwhype2 on 31 Jul 2007, 01:09, edited 1 time in total.
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The number of fish is greater than 100.
There are more than 100 fish.
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eileen1017 wrote: The number of fish is greater than 100.
There are more than 100 fish.
I concur.
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CEO
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What are the rules/concepts behind both sentences?
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Senior Manager
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For numbers alone, always use greater than or less than.
For the second sentence, it uses more than because the number is following by a noun.
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CEO
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does it matter whether the noun is countable?
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Director
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I am also confused with them.
Please somebody clarify.
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Re: Grammer Greater vs. More [#permalink]
20 Jul 2007, 03:26
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bmwhype2 wrote: The number of fish is (greater/more) than 100.
There are (more/greater) than 100 fish. bmwhype2 wrote: does it matter whether the noun is countable?
I've compiled this list myself after LOTS of trial and error. I like to think of it from the fewer/less perspective than the greater/more perspective. two sides of the same coin. 
Greater vs. More
Fewer vs. Less
Fewer refers to countable nouns.
Less is used in groups/subsets, fractions, money, periods of time and distance, distance and numerical data.
There are fewer pollutants and less of certain pollutants. Group
Less than forty percent of Americans have a healthy muscle to fat ratio. Fraction
Dallas is less than twenty miles away and less than five minutes away. Distance & time
Dallas is less than six feet tall. Numerical data
Danny always carries less than two dollars in his wallet. Money
Brooklyn has a population of less than five million and fewer immigrants than ever before.
Brooklyn has a population of fewer than five million and less immigrants than ever before.
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CEO
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Use fewer or “er” forms when referring to countable nouns.
Greater/lesser/fewer
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eileen1017 wrote: For numbers alone, always use greater than or less than.
For the second sentence, it uses more than because the number is following by a noun.
Wouldn't it be less for uncountable and fewer for countable?
For instance:
This queue is for custumers with fewer than 10 items.
"Please, put in my tea less sugar than you did in hers."
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CEO
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kwam wrote: eileen1017 wrote: For numbers alone, always use greater than or less than.
For the second sentence, it uses more than because the number is following by a noun. Wouldn't it be less for uncountable and fewer for countable? For instance: This queue is for customers with fewer than 10 items. "Please, put in my tea less sugar than you did in hers." Her post was a bit vague and confusing for me.
This queue is for customers with fewer than 10 items.
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Greater vs More:
Use "Greater" STRICTLY when dealing with numbers only (e.g. greater than 100)
Use "More" when dealing with group/subsets or making a comparison
Fewer vs Less:
Use "Fewer" with countable nouns
Use "less" with non-countable nouns
Generally "-er" is followed by "than" while making comparison..
Greater/lesser/fewer - all are comparitives and are used to make comparisons between two objects
To compare more than 2 objects use superlatives..
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Countable / Non-Countable
Many / Much
More (Number of Objects or When making comparisons) / Greater (used strictly with Numbers e.g. greater than one hundered)
Fewer (fewer than 100 students in the class) / Less (Less than 100 dollars)
Number, Majority, Minority, Plurality / Amount, Quantity
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eileen1017 wrote: The number of fish is greater than 100.
There are more than 100 fish.
I agree to this explaination.
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r0m3416 wrote: Countable / Non-Countable
Many / Much
More (Number of Objects or When making comparisons) / Greater (used strictly with Numbers e.g. greater than one hundered)
Fewer (fewer than 100 students in the class) / Less (Less than 100 dollars)
Number, Majority, Minority, Plurality / Amount, Quantity
Why not fewer than 100 dollars if fewer than 100 students is correct??????
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CEO
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excelgmat wrote: r0m3416 wrote: Countable / Non-Countable
Many / Much
More (Number of Objects or When making comparisons) / Greater (used strictly with Numbers e.g. greater than one hundered)
Fewer (fewer than 100 students in the class) / Less (Less than 100 dollars)
Number, Majority, Minority, Plurality / Amount, Quantity Why not fewer than 100 dollars if fewer than 100 students is correct?????? that is just the way it is. "less" is one of those sexy words that applies to several instances.
less than one hundred dollars.
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Re: Grammar Greater vs. More [#permalink]
31 Jul 2007, 02:59
bmwhype2 wrote: The number of fish is (greater/more) than 100. There are (more/greater) than 100 fish. Please advise. Why is fewer than 100 fish acceptable but not greater than 100 fish?
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It is what GMAT English says and I prefer to hard-code their preference in mind.
Use greater only while dealing with numbers or in other words when dealing with amount, quantity..
Use fewer with any coutables e.g. while dealing with Number of people or to make comparison betw 2 countable quantities
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.
A) extinction; its numbers are now five times greater than
B) extinction; its numbers are now five times more than
C) extinction; their numbers are now fivefold what they were
D) extinction; now with fivefold the numbers they had
E) extinction; now with numbers five times greater than
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Re: Grammar Greater vs. More [#permalink]
10 Sep 2007, 08:05
bmwhype2 wrote: bmwhype2 wrote: The number of fish is (greater/more) than 100. There are (more/greater) than 100 fish. Please advise. Why is fewer than 100 fish acceptable but not greater than 100 fish? because... that is the way it is.
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Re: Grammar Greater vs. More [#permalink]
17 Apr 2008, 10:11
It has been a while since anyone has contributed to this thread, but after some searching, I found that the use of more has no bearing on whether it is countable or not.
e.g.
There are more apples than oranges
There is more water than juice
Greater seems to refer to being "Larger in size or importance or degree."
Hence, we can say the following:
The number of apples is greater than the number of oranges
The amount of water is greater than the amount of juice
The clarity of water is greater than that of juice
The fraction of the population who smoke is greater than those who do not [smoke]
In these examples, less could could be substituted as an adverb not as an adjective, which I think is what is creating the confusion.
Comments?
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Re: Grammar Greater vs. More
[#permalink]
17 Apr 2008, 10:11
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