decrease by three times

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "decrease by three times" is correct and quite usable in written English.
You can use it when you want to express that something has decreased to one third its original amount or size. For example, "Due to the recent pandemic, the sales of luxury items have decreased by three times."

✓ Grammatically correct

Science

News & Media

Formal & Business

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

59 human-written examples

After 7 days, this parameter decreased by three times.

Nanoscale Research Letters

The highest solubility was fixed within 2 days contact with saline, and after 7 days, this parameter decreased by three times.

Nanoscale Research Letters

In particular, core loss decreases by three times (2.08 → 0.7 W/kg) at low frequency 400 Hz, maximum magnetic induction 1.0 Т.

Nanoscale Research Letters

Its REase activity was decreased by three times, which could be attributed to increased steric hindrance in interaction with substrate.

BMC Evolutionary Biology

Its MTase activity, 80% that of the M.Eco29kI enzyme, remained almost unchanged, while its REase activity decreased by three times, concurrently with changed reaction optima, which presumably can be caused by increased steric hindrance in interaction with the substrate.

BMC Evolutionary Biology

However, the expression of BnA7.SUT1.b decreased by three times in developing seeds as compared to BnA7.SUT1.a, which showed that BnA7.SUT1.b accumulated at higher levels in pods and pericarp, while BnA7.SUT1.a produced higher expression levels when regulated by the promoter of BnA7.SUT1.a.

BMC Plant Biology

In Condition 1, the proposed classifier can efficiently lower the cost for decreasing deployed sensors by three times in comparison with the k-NN classifier and 1.5 times compared with the Bayesian classifier.

Human-centric Computing and Information Sciences

With the coating of branched tapered ZnO nanorods, the average reflectance of the non-selenized CIGS solar cell decreased the magnitude by three times, and the energy conversion efficiency increased by 20%.

Nanoscale Research Letters

The addition of imidazolium-based IL and DES was able to decrease the anionic surfactant adsorption by three times.

Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering

The model analysis revealed that PQI increases the total frequency of sphere generation by five times, decreases the rate constant of coalescence by an order of magnitude, and decreases the linear growth rate to less than half.

Carbon

"We decrease the price of the unit by ten times by doing this," he says of the terminals, which sell for €79 or £59.

TechCrunch

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Be mindful of your audience. In some contexts, using percentage reductions (e.g., reduced by 66.67%) might be clearer than saying "decrease by three times".

Common error

A common mistake is to confuse "decrease by three times" with decreasing to three times the original value. Remember, "decrease by three times" means it is now one-third of the original amount.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "decrease by three times" functions as a quantitative expression indicating a substantial reduction in magnitude. It modifies a verb (e.g., decreased, reduced) to specify the degree of change. Ludwig provides numerous examples demonstrating this function.

Expression frequency: Uncommon

Frequent in

Science

60%

News & Media

20%

Formal & Business

20%

Less common in

Encyclopedias

0%

Wiki

0%

Reference

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, the phrase "decrease by three times" is a grammatically sound and quantifiable way to express that something has been reduced to one-third of its initial value. Ludwig AI confirms its usability in written English. While not exceptionally common, it appears most frequently in scientific and news contexts. Be sure to use "by", not "of", and ensure the context clarifies the baseline for comparison. Related alternatives include "reduced threefold" or "cut down to a third". Remember, using percentage reduction could add clarity for some audiences.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

decreased to a third of its value

This rephrases to focus on the proportion remaining after the decrease.

reduced threefold

This alternative uses an adjective to describe the amount of reduction.

declined to one third

Uses 'declined' as a synonym for decrease, keeping the 'one third' to denote the final amount.

cut down to a third

This alternative uses 'cut down' emphasizing the action of reduction and specifies 'a third' as the result.

shrunk to 33 percent

This expresses the decrease in percentage terms.

scaled down to one-third

Uses 'scaled down' as a more vivid synonym for decreased.

fallen by a factor of three

Replaces decrease with 'fallen' and uses 'factor of three' for emphasis.

one-third of its original size

This alternative focuses on the resultant size after the decrease.

a three-time reduction

This uses a nominal structure to describe the reduction.

tripled reduction

This version emphasizes the 'triple' aspect of the decrease.

FAQs

How can I use "decrease by three times" in a sentence?

You can use "decrease by three times" to indicate that something has reduced to a third of its original value. For example, "After the intervention, the error rate "decreased by three times"."

What's a simpler way to say "decrease by three times"?

Alternatives include "reduced threefold", "cut down to a third", or "shrunk to 33 percent".

Is it correct to say "decreased of three times" instead of "decrease by three times"?

No, the correct preposition is "by." "Decrease by" indicates the amount of reduction. Saying "decreased of" is grammatically incorrect in this context.

How does "decrease by three times" compare to "decrease to three times"?

"Decrease by three times" means becoming one-third of the original amount. "Decrease to three times" means becoming three times the original amount, indicating an increase relative to an earlier reduction.