lesser amount of time

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "lesser amount of time" is not correct in standard written English.
The correct expression would be "less time" or "a smaller amount of time." Example: "I was able to complete the project in a lesser amount of time than expected."

⚠ May contain grammatical issues

Science

News & Media

Wiki

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

5 human-written examples

Rules state that a second home must be the address where an MP spends the lesser amount of time.

Independent

A geologic study published in 1992 suggested that underwater seamounts near the Galapagos had formed islands between 5,000,000 and 9,000,000 years ago; this helped explain the great amount of endemic speciation, which many biologists believe could not have occurred in a lesser amount of time.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Our algorithm gives better classification accuracy of almost 5% and 8% than Koza's model and Back propagation model respectively even for complex and real multi-class data in lesser amount of time.

Expert Systems with Applications

Activity levels and shoaling density showed no response to tank structures and fish did not spend a significantly greater or lesser amount of time in areas of tanks containing glass rods.

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

If this schedule is too demanding, you will need to look for one that specifically states a lesser amount of time.

WikiHow

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

55 human-written examples

The Boulder Daily Camera reports that District Judge Thomas Ensor said he he chose probation because of Colorado's vague sex offender sentencing laws which could lead to Hilty spending his life in prison if sentenced to a lesser amount of prison time.

Huffington Post

We also will not know if the intervention would also be equally effective with a lesser amount of effort, time and money or which level is enough.

Health and Quality of Life Outcomes

Patients who received goserelin therapy also displayed a lesser amount of life-time lost (42 months vs. 66 months), and a longer life expectancy (432 ± 23 vs. 401 ± 17 months).

BMC Cancer

The numerical results indicate that the proposed Multitasking bi-level evolutionary algorithm (M-BLEA) successfully converges to high quality solutions in significantly lesser number of lower level function evaluations (and implicitly in significantly lesser amount of wall-clock time) as compared to the basic nested bi-level evolutionary algorithm (N-BLEA) upon which it has been built.

Complex & Intelligent Systems

Reduction in MIDAS scores, indicating lesser amount of lost work and personal time due to migraine [6], after OnabotA therapy in our cohort seems notable given that a day lived with severe migraine is considered to be as disabling as a day lived with dementia, quadriplegia or acute psychosis and more disabling than blindness, paraplegia, angina or rheumatoid arthritis [4, 45, 46].

The Journal of Headache and Pain

Although the dIVT protocol is less sensitive than the IVT (a 10% loss of detection in the number of genes whose expression levels could be measured), the requirement of much lesser amount of sample required for dIVT protocol (20 100 times less than IVT protocol), makes it a highly desirable methodology for target preparation, when sample amounts are limiting.

BMC Genomics

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When possible, replace the phrase "lesser amount of time" with "less time" for a more concise and grammatically correct expression. This improves clarity and readability.

Common error

Avoid using "amount" with uncountable nouns like time. While "amount" is suitable for quantities that can't be counted individually, time is generally expressed directly (e.g. "less time") or with count-suitable alternatives (e.g. "fewer hours").

Linguistic Context

The phrase functions as an adjectival modifier describing the duration of something. It attempts to quantify time, but is considered grammatically incorrect by Ludwig as it uses "amount" with an uncountable noun, which is generally inappropriate.

Expression frequency: Rare

Frequent in

Science

48%

News & Media

32%

Wiki

20%

Less common in

Formal & Business

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Reference

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, while the phrase "lesser amount of time" appears across various sources, Ludwig indicates it is grammatically incorrect and should be replaced with "less time" or a similar alternative. Although the intent is clear—to describe a shorter duration—better options exist to ensure grammatical correctness and clarity. The phrase is relatively rare, appearing most frequently in science and news-related contexts. It's advisable to use more standard phrasing, especially in formal writing.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

shorter time

Directly replaces the phrase with a simpler adjective, focusing on brevity.

reduced time

Emphasizes the act of diminishing the duration.

smaller duration

Uses a noun to describe the length, indicating a reduced period.

decreased time frame

Highlights a reduced scope within which something occurs.

brief period

Implies a concise interval, focusing on the limited nature.

compressed timeframe

Conveys the idea of squeezing events into a tighter schedule.

limited time

Focuses on the restricted or finite nature of the time available.

quicker timeframe

Indicates a faster completion or execution period.

faster pace

Highlights a quicker tempo or rate of activity.

expedited schedule

Suggests an accelerated or hurried timeline.

FAQs

What's a more grammatically sound way to say "lesser amount of time"?

You can use phrases like "less time", "a shorter duration", or "a reduced time" to convey the same idea with better grammatical correctness.

Is it always wrong to use "lesser amount of time"?

While not strictly correct, it's sometimes used informally. However, in formal writing, it's advisable to opt for grammatically precise alternatives such as "less time".

How does "less time" differ from "lesser amount of time"?

"Less time" is the standard and grammatically sound way to express a shorter duration. "Lesser amount of time" is considered incorrect and should be avoided in formal writing.

When is it appropriate to use "less time" instead of "lesser amount of time"?

You should almost always use "less time". It's suitable for nearly all contexts where you want to indicate a shorter duration or a reduced period. Avoid "lesser amount of time" in professional or academic writing.