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Old 02-20-2011, 01:41 AM
 
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Is it: He has a significantly greater chance of dying in a car accident.
Or

He has a significant greater chance of dying in a car accident.
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Old 02-20-2011, 04:01 AM
 
Location: Raleigh NC
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The first one. Significantly is altering greater. Or you could use 'significant chance' or 'greater chance' by themselves.
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Old 02-20-2011, 06:03 AM
 
Location: Maine
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hypnosis View Post
Is it: He has a significantly greater chance of dying in a car accident.
Or

He has a significant greater chance of dying in a car accident.
First one is correct, but wordy. An editor would change that to:

He has a significant chance of dying in a car accident.

Or

He has a greater chance of dying in a car accident.

"Significantly greater" is overkill. Like writing "round circle" or "wet water." It's saying the same thing twice.
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Old 02-20-2011, 07:33 AM
 
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark S. View Post
First one is correct, but wordy. An editor would change that to:

He has a significant chance of dying in a car accident.

Or

He has a greater chance of dying in a car accident.

"Significantly greater" is overkill. Like writing "round circle" or "wet water." It's saying the same thing twice.
But don't you think that changing it to "He has a significant chance of dying in a car accident" misrepresents what's trying to be said?

He doesn't necessarily have a significant chance of dying in a car accident, but he does have a greater chance in dying in one.

ETA: I'm not trying to pick an argument, by the way. I'm a writer and editor, so I read everything with a fine-toothed comb.
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Old 02-20-2011, 08:54 AM
 
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but is it wrong to use the first one?
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Old 02-20-2011, 09:02 AM
 
Location: Denver 'burbs
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No...not if what you mean is ..."he has a much greater chance of dying in a car accident than...."
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Old 02-20-2011, 09:10 AM
 
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The first.
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Old 02-20-2011, 10:14 AM
 
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hypnosis View Post
but is it wrong to use the first one?
Of the two, only the first one is grammatically correct.
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Old 02-20-2011, 11:06 AM
 
Location: Bradenton, Florida
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The first.

And yes, there is a difference between "significantly greater" and simply "greater".

"Significant chance" is a different connotation altogether, at least in my mind.
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Old 02-20-2011, 09:32 PM
 
Location: near bears but at least no snakes
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hypnosis View Post
Is it: He has a significantly greater chance of dying in a car accident.
Or

He has a significant greater chance of dying in a car accident.
It sounds like a comparison--significantly greater chance.....(than he has of dying in a fire).

So if it's going to be a comparison the first one is right. The second one doesn't make any sense--a significant greater.
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