I am confused as to some of the vocabulary that can be used to compare numbers and quantities, and would very much appreciate some clarification.
- I suppose it is safe to say that 1 is smaller than 2.
- Can I also say that 1 is less than 2, and if so, which form is preferable?
- It seems that saying that 1 is lesser than 2 is uncommon – but is it incorrect?
- Finally, -2 is clearly less than -1, but is it true that -2 is smaller than -1?
(If I have 2$ of debt, then I would say that I have less money than if I had 1$ of debt, but I would also say that my debt was larger, not smaller).
Best Answer
The < symbol is known as less than so less than will probably be better in mathematical contexts. In other contexts smaller than may also be acceptable: My salary is smaller than my wife's.
Lesser can only be used attributively. So you can say: I earn a lesser salary than my wife, but not: My salary is lesser than my wife's.