sometimes larger than

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "sometimes larger than" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when comparing sizes or quantities that vary under different circumstances. Example: "The population of the city is sometimes larger than that of the neighboring towns."

✓ Grammatically correct

Science

News & Media

Encyclopedias

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

13 human-written examples

Males are sometimes larger than females, and among elephant seals males can be five times larger.

Encyclopedia Britannica

The hiccup is that very little energy is generated and the harvesting mechanisms are sometimes larger than the devices they power.Yet another solution could be fuel cells.

The Economist

According to the Mexican food aficionado Rick Bayless, the big ones, sometimes larger than golf balls, are not as flavorful and can taste bitter.

The New York Times

The portion of variance explained by personality was similar to, and sometimes larger than, that explained by competencies.

Large-scale Assessments in Education

The effects of the stabilizers are found to be significant, i.e. comparable, and sometimes larger, than the effects of the physical (molecular) viscosity.

Journal of Computational Physics

Some of these are inherited from association rule and frequent itemsets mining, which usually extract a large set of association rules or frequent itemsets, sometimes larger than the dataset itself.

Journal of Big Data

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

47 human-written examples

A sometimes larger-than-life figure to those who knew her only through her often harrowing accounts in The Sunday Times of London, Ms. Colvin attracted a crowd of about 200 people at her funeral in the Church of Saint Dominic, here in her hometown.

The New York Times

If the difference fluctuates such that it is sometimes larger but sometimes smaller than the trigger threshold during the window, the UE must be moving on the border of two cells and thus handover may not be necessary.

EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking

For example, several studies from the Netherlands have reported that traffic-related pollutants such as black smoke, carbon monoxide, nitric oxide, and nitrogen dioxide have associations of similar and sometimes larger magnitude with FENO than those of PM10 (Fischer et al. 2002; Steerenberg et al. 2001; van Amsterdam et al. 1999).

Environmental Health Perspectives

The process is more art than science, and sometimes larger rocks survive the blast.

Vice

Plenty of speculation occurs and CDS positions are sometimes much larger than the bonds outstanding.To date, the insurers have tended to do better than the speculators.

The Economist

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Use "sometimes larger than" to clearly indicate a variable comparison, where the size relationship is not constant.

Common error

Avoid using "sometimes larger than" when a consistent or permanent size difference exists. Opt for phrases like "generally larger than" or "consistently bigger than" if the size difference is not variable.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "sometimes larger than" functions as a comparative adjective phrase. It expresses a size comparison that is not constant, indicating that the first item is bigger only under specific conditions. Ludwig AI confirms this usage across various contexts.

Expression frequency: Common

Frequent in

Science

60%

News & Media

30%

Encyclopedias

10%

Less common in

Formal & Business

0%

Wiki

0%

Reference

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

The phrase "sometimes larger than" is a valuable tool for expressing variable size comparisons. As demonstrated by Ludwig, it's grammatically correct and commonly used across various domains, including science, news, and encyclopedias. Its purpose is to describe instances where the size relationship between two entities is not constant. While versatile, it's important to avoid overgeneralization and use it accurately when indicating a conditional size difference. Alternatives like "occasionally bigger than" or "at times greater than" can provide subtle shifts in emphasis.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

occasionally bigger than

Replaces "sometimes larger" with synonyms, emphasizing the occasional nature of the size difference.

at times greater than

Uses "at times" and "greater" to convey the intermittent and surpassing nature of the comparison.

periodically exceeding

Highlights the cyclical or intermittent surpassing of one thing over another.

intermittently surpassing

Focuses on the on-and-off nature of one thing outstripping another.

now and then bigger than

Emphasizes the occasional increase in size using a more colloquial expression.

sporadically surpassing

Highlights the irregular and infrequent nature of exceeding something.

every so often larger than

Replaces "sometimes" with a more casual phrase indicating occasional occurrence.

from time to time greater than

Expresses occasional size difference using the phrase "from time to time".

on occasion bigger than

Uses "on occasion" to specify the intermittent nature of the size comparison.

in some instances greater than

Highlights that the size difference occurs in specific situations or cases.

FAQs

When is it appropriate to use "sometimes larger than"?

Use "sometimes larger than" when indicating that the size of one item or entity is greater than another only under certain circumstances or at specific times. This suggests variability in their relative sizes.

What are some alternatives to "sometimes larger than"?

You can use alternatives like "occasionally bigger than", "at times greater than", or "periodically exceeding" to convey similar meanings with slight variations in emphasis.

Is "sometimes larger than" grammatically correct?

Yes, "sometimes larger than" is grammatically correct. It follows standard comparative construction rules in English.

How does the meaning of "sometimes larger than" differ from "usually larger than"?

"Sometimes larger than" implies the size difference is not consistent and occurs only in certain instances. In contrast, "usually larger than" indicates that the size difference is more often the case than not, suggesting a general trend rather than occasional occurrence.