[Grammar] Multiplicative Comparison. eg There are three times as many boys as girls.

[JeniferCheng]

I'm trying to practice making sentences for three multiplicative comparison.(ex: three times as many as ... = three times more than ... = three times the number of ...)

Are following sentences equal?

1. Two girls and six boys (the position of "boys" is right?)
There are three times as many boys as girls. = There are three times more boys than girls.
= There are boys three times the number of girls.

2. 100 m^2 in the xxx and 500 m^2 in the UK (make it simpler)
There was five times less land in xxx than land in the UK.
= There was five times as little land in xxx as in the UK.

3. The city library has 200 books and my school library has 100 books. (the position of "books" is right?)
The city library has two times more books than my school library.
= The city library has two times as many books as my school library.
= The city library has two times books the number of my school library.

4. He makes $10. I makes $20. (the position of "money" is right?)
He makes half as much (money) as I do.
= He makes half as little as I do.
= He makes half the amount of money I do.

I'll very appreciate that if someone could give me correct answers.

 

[Rover_KE]

Re: eg There are three times as many boys as girls.

Welcome to the forum, JeniferCheng.:-D

I'm trying to practice making sentences for three multiplicative comparison.(ex: three times as many as ... = three times more than ... = three times the number of ...)

[STRIKE]Are following sentences equal?[/STRIKE] Do the following sentences mean the same?

1. Two girls and six boys (Is the position of "boys" [STRIKE]is[/STRIKE] right?) Yes, it is.

There are three times as many boys as girls. :tick:= There are three times more boys than girls. :tick:

= There are boys three times the number of girls.:cross:

.

Please post the other examples in separate threads (and not all at the same time) with a title specific to each.

 

[JeniferCheng]

Re: eg There are three times as many boys as girls.

Thank you Piscean and Rover_KE for answering my question.

But, I'm still a little bit confused about "There are three times more boys than girls". Does it mean 8 boys or six boys?

 

[Glizdka]

Re: eg There are three times as many boys as girls.

Not a teacher
------

Are "The boys are three times more numerous than girls" and "The boys are three times as numerous as girls" correct?

 

[Tarheel]

Re: eg There are three times as many boys as girls.

Yes, but that's a little complicated, isn't it?

 

[Tarheel]

Re: eg There are three times as many boys as girls.

Thank you Piscean and Rover_KE for answering my question.

But, I'm still a little bit confused about "There are three times more boys than girls". Does it mean 8 boys or six boys?

To me it means six boys.

 

[Rover_KE]

Re: eg There are three times as many boys as girls.

Thank you Piscean and Rover_KE for answering my question.

But, I'm still a little bit confused about "There are three times more boys than girls". Does it mean 8 boys or six boys?

Piscean and I disagree. Let's see what others think.

 

[Glizdka]

Not a teacher
------

I'd say "three times more than..." and "three times as many as..." mean the same thing. In your example, 6 boys.

However, there is a mathematical and linguistic difference between them. Technically speaking, "three times" triples the original value, and "more" adds it on top of the original value.

2+(2x3)=8

I wouldn't expect anyone without a mathematical/linguistic background to interpret it this way, though. For most ordinary people, they're the same thing.

2x3=6

You can avoid using "... times more than ..." altogether, if you want to be careful. You can respect the technical difference and join the minority of people who know it. Or you can go with the majority and use them interchangeably. I'd say the choice is yours as long as you make it clear what you mean.

---

If "three times more than..." means 2+(2x3)=8, and "two times more than..." means 2+(2x2)=6, how do we refer to 2+(2x1)=4? "One time more than..."? It doesn't sound right to me, but maybe it's because I'm not a native speaker.

 

[JeniferCheng]

Thank you all above. I'll try to use "three times as many as..." to make sure no confusion instead of "three times more...". :-D

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Re: eg There are three times as many boys as girls.

Piscean and I disagree. Let's see what others think.

Six.

But I do see the logic of calling three times more eight, in the sense of three hundred percent more being eight.