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Manager
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Although the government's expenditures on law suits involving tobacco companies amounts to a sum drastically lower than that spent by tobacco companies, many believe that the government should allocate no more funds to a battle they perceive as pointless.
A- expenditures on law suits involving tobacco companies amounts to a sum drastically lower than
B- expenditures on law suits involving tobacco companies amount to a sum drastically less than
C - expenditures on law suits involving tobacco companies amount to a sum drastically lower than
D- law suit expenditures regarding tobacco companies amount to a drastically lower sum than
E- law suit expenditures regarding tobacco companies amounts to a drastically lower sum than
Please explain your choices.
Also, can anyone explain when do we use less/lesser/lower.
I know that less is used whenever we deal with something non-countable.
I have seen many sentences with 'less than' usage. But i dont remember seeing any with 'lesser than' usage. Can anyone give any examples with lesser than 
Thanks.
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VP
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C for me.
1. shows possesiveness of government towards expenditure.
2. expenditures ... amount. plural needs singular verb.
3. drastically (adverb) modifies lower (verb)
need to find something for "lesser than" usage.
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Senior Manager
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I was able to identify the usage of 'amount' but was not sure which one to use -lower or less.
 I hate it when I end up with two options and don't know which one to go for. I always pick up the wrong one. I picked B now but DJ's reasoning appears correct.
What is the OA?
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Manager
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My answer choice is C.
Reasons
1. I eliminated D and E on the basis of 'regarding'. I feel it changes the meaning totally.
2. the subject is plural so it has to be 'amount' and not 'amounts'. So choice A is eliminated.
3. the sentence is a clear comparison of money spend by govt. and companies, so i picked up a comparison word 'lower' to 'less'
Now, I am still hunting as to how i can prove this 'less' and 'lesser' confusion more clear.
As of now, the only information that I came across which confidently uses 'lesser' is numerics/currencies/mathematics.
eg : A is lesser than B.
This rule seems to hold good when we talk about currencies too.
eg : A TV costs lesser than a Microwave oven.
The word 'less' can be used under the common rule, uncountable/measurable units of things, like milk, soup etc.
Any more thoughts.
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Senior Manager
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What's the answer???????
Krish, can u explain a bit more about when less is used? I distinctly remember that in my last GMAT ..there was a question where I had to choose between lesser and lower.. And both looked ok in the context. May be my SC concepts on such things at that time were wanting, but I would still like to settle the issue among..less/lower/lesser.
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Manager
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Even I am waiting for the OA.
By the way,
CrackGmat,
My source of information is internet and Princeton Review. let me try to explain the usage of 'less' in a crisp manner.
'less' can be used for items that are not countable/measureable. This means that a items like soup, water, milk, vegetables, are all measurable and not countable. so we use the sentence formation, 'less soup', 'less milk' and so on.
Now, there is a exception to this rule, as any other rule.
When we refer to percentages and fractions we use less. According to Princeton, this is a archaic rule, but possible to get in one of those tough questions in Gmat.
for eg : less than 10 percent of the population is under poverty line.
If you look at this exception rule closely, you would see, they are comparision formation with 'than'.
Hope this helps u
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GMAT Club Legend
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(C) for me. Lower than would be correct since sum is not exactly something that's countable.
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SVP
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Somehow I also got C.
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Senior Manager
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C is the answer
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Senior Manager
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krish wrote: Even I am waiting for the OA. By the way, CrackGmat, My source of information is internet and Princeton Review. let me try to explain the usage of 'less' in a crisp manner. 'less' can be used for items that are not countable/measureable. This means that a items like soup, water, milk, vegetables, are all measurable and not countable. so we use the sentence formation, 'less soup', 'less milk' and so on. Now, there is a exception to this rule, as any other rule. When we refer to percentages and fractions we use less. According to Princeton, this is a archaic rule, but possible to get in one of those tough questions in Gmat. for eg : less than 10 percent of the population is under poverty line. If you look at this exception rule closely, you would see, they are comparision formation with 'than'. Hope this helps u Krish, thanks for this. But can you explain the difference between lesser and lower? As I wrote, in my last GMAT I had a question where I have to decide between these two. If possible, can you describe the difference with some examples.
Thanks.
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Senior Manager
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Anyone?
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Senior Manager
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C for me
The use of less or lesser is depended on the content of the sentence. You can check here.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define. ... &dict=CALD
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