Is it acceptable to say “higher than” when you mean “as high as”?
Consider the following sentence: “Last year, the rent was $500, but now it’s risen to $1,000. The rent is two times higher than it used to be.”
To me, this sentence is misleading, since “two times higher” would mean starting with a value of $500 and duplicating it, twice (in other words, $500 + $500 x 2 = $1,500). It seems the correct sentence should read:
“The rent is two times as high as used to be.”
Are both forms acceptable? Unfortunately, it seems that the more confusing form (”two times higher”) has become more common.
Submit Your Comment
©2024 CYCLE Interactive, LLC.
All Rights Reserved.
How about, "The rent has doubled.", or "The rent is now twice what it was."
Both "two times higher" and "two times as high" sound like phrases used by primary school kids.
user106928 Jan-18-2017
16 votes Permalink Report Abuse
Twice what it was (= 2x).
Lexo Feb-13-2017
3 votes Permalink Report Abuse
Neither of us is/are capable of winning.y
liaza Mar-02-2017
2 votes Permalink Report Abuse
No, it is NOT correct.
To say that the Eiffel Tower is as high as a giraffe's balls is NOT to state the situation accurately, nor to do justice to the Eiffel Tower's verticle dimension.
Colin2 Mar-18-2017
2 votes Permalink Report Abuse
My boy Colin nailed this question above
connor Dec-12-2017
2 votes Permalink Report Abuse