at a large proportion

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "at a large proportion" is not correct in standard written English.
It is typically intended to express a significant amount or percentage of something, but the phrasing is awkward and unclear. Example: "At a large proportion of the surveyed population, the results indicated a preference for online shopping."

⚠ May contain grammatical issues

Science

News & Media

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

6 human-written examples

Directly after surgery and even before the start of AT, a large proportion of patients (85%) reported a complete loss of erectile function.

BMC Cancer

Polymorphism was observed at a large proportion (65%) of the cross-amplified loci independently of SSR type.

BMC Genomics

Therefore, rather than acting as a conventional silencer, our data are consistent with NuRD functioning as a modulator of transcriptional activity at a large proportion of its target genes.

EMBO Journal

Of these, ∼23% (436, Figure 7A, group I) were misregulated both in the Mbd3 and Polycomb mutant ES cells, consistent with the observed synergy in gene regulation between the NuRD and Polycomb systems at a large proportion of target loci.

EMBO Journal

Our results in Figure 1 show that these two histone modifications are indeed coenriched at a large proportion of imprinted genes in mouse ESCs, showing a significant difference compared to all mouse genes.

Epigenetics and Chromatin

However, in germinomas, methylation of gene regulatory regions differed little from control samples, whereas YSTs exhibited increased methylation at a large proportion of the loci tested, showing a 'methylator' phenotype, including silencing of genes associated with Caspase-8-dependent apoptosis.

British Journal of Cancer

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

54 human-written examples

This may be the result of large overlaps between gene clusters with high transcription levels at different stages, as a large proportion of genes has high transcriptional activity throughout the erythrocytic cell cycle.

BMC Genomics

We found that both at P18 and at P25 a large proportion of WFA positive interneurons (64% at P18, 50% at P25, p = 0,03, Mann-Whitney Rank sum test) were also positive for IGF-1 receptor labelling.

Plosone

This has been confirmed by a pH titration using Eu ⋅1 that shows a p Ka of 7.35, which suggests that amide deprotonation is vital to ensure tight binding to ZnII, therefore at pH 7.4 the affinity is greater than at pH 6 at which a large proportion of the Ln ⋅1 amide would be protonated.

Chemistry - A European Journal

Microscopic analysis showed normal levels of progression past the germling stage but severe polarity defects in a proportion of cells at 25°, whereas at 37° a large proportion of the conidia failed to produce more than a small germ tube.

G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics

The skeptical scenario is a high stakes context for S because all, or at least a large proportion, of her knowledge is at stake.

SEP

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When describing quantities, it's better to use clearer and more common phrases such as "a significant percentage of" or "in a large proportion of" for better readability.

Common error

Avoid using the phrase "at a large proportion" as it sounds awkward. Simpler alternatives like "a significant portion" or "a high percentage" are easier to understand and more grammatically sound.

Linguistic Context

The phrase primarily functions as a prepositional modifier, indicating a significant quantity or percentage. As Ludwig AI points out, the phrase isn't considered standard written English and is an awkward construction.

Expression frequency: Uncommon

Frequent in

Science

86%

News & Media

14%

Formal & Business

0%

Less common in

Encyclopedias

0%

Wiki

0%

Reference

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, while the phrase "at a large proportion" appears in various contexts, including scientific and news-related articles, it is considered grammatically incorrect and an awkward phrasing. Ludwig AI suggests it's better to opt for clearer and more standard alternatives such as "in a large proportion", "a significant percentage of", or "a substantial portion of". These alternatives enhance readability and convey the intended meaning more effectively. While not entirely absent, its infrequent usage suggests a preference for grammatically stronger alternatives.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

in a large proportion

Changes the preposition from 'at' to 'in', which is more grammatically accepted.

a significant percentage of

Replaces the phrase with a more common and clearer expression using "percentage".

a considerable fraction of

Substitutes "proportion" with "fraction", implying a part of a whole, and "large" with "considerable".

a substantial portion of

Uses "portion" instead of "proportion" with "substantial" in place of "large".

a good share of

Replaces "proportion" with "share", suggesting a part or allotment, and uses "good" instead of "large".

a notable segment of

Employs "segment" to denote a section or division and "notable" to highlight its significance.

a marked amount of

Replaces "proportion" with "amount" and uses "marked" to indicate a noticeable quantity.

a high ratio of

Focuses on the relative quantity, using "ratio" instead of proportion.

the majority of

Indicates that more than half is affected, rather than simply a large part.

much of

Simplifies the expression to indicate a considerable quantity without specifying a formal proportion.

FAQs

What can I say instead of "at a large proportion"?

You can use alternatives like "in a large proportion", "a significant percentage of", or "a substantial portion of" depending on the context.

Is "at a large proportion" grammatically correct?

While understandable, the phrase "at a large proportion" isn't considered standard English. It's better to use alternatives such as "in a large proportion" or "a significant percentage".

How to use "a significant percentage of" in a sentence?

Instead of "at a large proportion", try: "A significant percentage of the population prefers this option." This is clearer and more grammatically correct.

What's the difference between "at a large proportion" and "in a large proportion"?

While both aim to convey a similar meaning, "in a large proportion" is grammatically more accepted and sounds more natural in English. "At a large proportion" is considered awkward.