be much less often

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "be much less often" is not correct in standard written English.
It seems to be an attempt to express a frequency that is significantly reduced, but the structure is awkward and unclear. Example: "I would like to see him be much less often at the office."

⚠ May contain grammatical issues

Science

News & Media

Wiki

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

1 human-written examples

It is worth mentioning that the melanic morph of the Eleonora's falcon seems to be much less often observed in nature [32] [34], and the same tendency is observed in other polymorphic raptors [35].

Plosone

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

58 human-written examples

It's much less often recognised that Lee also anticipated the frustration and gender consciousness of the women's movement.

The Guardian - Books

So most of us, I think, recognise quality journalism when we encounter it (which many of us feel is much less often than we would wish).

The Guardian

"If people tease me, which is much less often, I am now able to walk away," says James. "And I haven't had a single detention this year," says Tom. Another major challenge for the boys has been learning to cope with change.

The Guardian - Lifestyle

Those guns that are most often used to kill or maim the largest number of people could be taxed at a higher rate, while guns used primarily for hunting or sport that are much less often involved in fatalities or injuries would be taxed at a lower rate.

The New York Times

That is much less often than in the last 150 million years, when the field has flipped every 600,000 years.

BBC

If parents have at least an intermediate school-leaving qualification and a vocational qualification or degree, then their children achieve qualifications for higher education significantly more frequently, and it is much less often the case that their maximum level of achievement is a lower secondary school-leaving qualification.

Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training

Compared to housekeeping genes, randomly selected genes are much less often located in RIDGEs (13±0.6%, mean±sd).

Plosone

Deletion mutations were much less often observed, 225 alleles were smaller than their corresponding germline alleles.

British Journal of Cancer

Third, GeneValorization underlined that the secondary filters 'Proliferation', 'Apoptosis', 'Invasion', and 'Angiogenesis' were strongly associated with the gene list while 'Immunity', 'Cell-cycle arrest', 'Epigenetic' or 'microRNA' were much less often associated.

Bioinformatics

Among these, the amides of Ile 23 and Ile 44 are not exposed to solvent in any of the 2NR2 ensemble structures, while the amides Glu 18 and Glu 51 are much less often exposed to solvent in the 2NR2 ensemble.

Biochemistry

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Avoid using the phrase "be much less often" in formal writing. Opt for more grammatically sound alternatives such as "occur much less frequently" or "be significantly less frequent".

Common error

Don't prioritize literal translation over grammatical correctness. The structure "be much less often" is awkward. Refocus on expressing the intended meaning with proper English syntax.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "be much less often" functions as an attempt to describe reduced frequency. Ludwig AI points out that this phrasing is not grammatically correct in standard written English. The goal is to indicate that something happens infrequently.

Expression frequency: Rare

Frequent in

Science

34%

News & Media

45%

Wiki

6%

Less common in

Encyclopedias

4%

Formal & Business

2%

Social Media

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, the phrase "be much less often" is used to express reduced frequency, but it is grammatically incorrect and awkward. Ludwig AI identifies it as non-standard English. While it appears across various source categories such as science, news media, and wikis, it's best to avoid this phrase in formal writing. Instead, consider using grammatically correct alternatives like "occur much less frequently" or "be significantly less frequent".

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

occur much less frequently

Replaces "be" with "occur" and transforms "less often" into the adverbial phrase "less frequently" for better grammatical flow.

happen much less frequently

Similar to the previous alternative, but uses "happen" instead of "occur" for a slightly more informal tone.

be significantly less frequent

Uses "significantly less frequent" to emphasize the reduced frequency in a more grammatically correct way.

be far less common

Replaces "often" with "common" to express rarity, maintaining a similar meaning.

be much rarer

Uses the adjective "rarer" to directly indicate that something is infrequent.

not happen as often

Restructures the phrase to a negative form, indicating a decrease in frequency.

be seen much less frequently

Adds "seen" to clarify that the observation or occurrence is reduced.

be considerably less frequent

Substitutes "significantly" with "considerably" to express a large decrease in frequency.

appear much less often

Replaces "be" with "appear" suggesting reduced visibility or occurrence.

be experienced much less often

Adds "experienced" to indicate that the instance of being experienced is less frequent.

FAQs

How can I rephrase "be much less often" to sound more natural?

Instead of "be much less often", consider using phrases like "occur much less frequently", "be significantly less frequent", or "be far less common". These alternatives are grammatically correct and convey the same meaning.

Is "be much less often" grammatically correct?

No, the phrase "be much less often" is not grammatically correct in standard written English. It's better to use alternatives like "occur much less frequently" or "be significantly less frequent".

What's a more formal way to say "be much less often"?

For a more formal tone, use "occur much less frequently" or "be considerably less frequent". These options maintain a professional and grammatically sound structure.

What's the difference between "be much less often" and "occur much less frequently"?

"Be much less often" is an awkward and grammatically incorrect phrase. "Occur much less frequently" is the correct and more natural way to express that something happens with significantly reduced frequency.