Hundreds of times greater than one thousand?

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New2grammar

#316830 Thu, 18 Jan 07 03:53 PM

Is it possible for 'hundreds of times' to be greater than a thousand times?

New2grammar

Joined on Tue, Nov 21 2006

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Selecter

#316877 Thu, 18 Jan 07 06:00 PM

"Hundreds of times" is indefinite. It implies more than a hundred (>100)
"A thousand times" implies 1000 (=1000)

All you have to do now is the math :-) Yes, it is possible that "hundreds of times" is more than a 1000. Your question is not a matter of learning english.

Selecter

Joined on Fri, Jan 20 2006

Slavic Russia

Full Member (297)

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Tidus

#316878 Thu, 18 Jan 07 06:00 PM

probably not - they both mean the same thing. Whatever it is that is 'hundreds of times' or 'a thousand times' will be an exaggeration ie "I've told you hundreds of times.... ", or "I've told you a thousand times"... both just mean "i've told you 'several' or 'many' times".

Tidus

Joined on Mon, Nov 27 2006

England

Full Member (362)

Tidus

#316879 Thu, 18 Jan 07 06:05 PM

Selecter wrote:
"Hundreds of times" is indefinite. It implies more than a hundred (>100)
"A thousand times" implies 1000 (=1000)

All you have to do now is the math :-) Yes, it is possible that "hundreds of times" is more than a 1000. Your question is not a matter of learning english.

You're quite correct Selector. We often say things like 'fourteen hundred' etc which equates to one thousand four hundred. However, I'm not sure that it's the maths aspect that is being queried.

Tidus

Learning English

Selecter

#316884 Thu, 18 Jan 07 06:14 PM

Tidus, I've got your point. I hadn't even thought about non-math aspect before you posted your message. "Hundreds of times" and "A thousand times" as "a million times" are used in spoken english (and also in other languages) to say "too many times".

Selecter

New2grammar

#316897 Thu, 18 Jan 07 06:40 PM

From the replies, it seems like the meaning of 'hundreds of times' depends on context:

In math context:

I have run this experiment hundreds of times. =>implies > 100 times (a minimum of a hundred times)

I have run this experiment thousands of times => implies > 1000 times (a minimum of a thousand times)

In non-math context:

You have asked me this same question hundreds of times. => implies many times

You have asked me this same question thousands of times => implies many times and, therefore, has no whatsoever difference from 'hundreds of times'?

Please correct me if I'm wrong

New2grammar

Clive

#316981 Thu, 18 Jan 07 10:31 PM

Hi,

it seems like the meaning of 'hundreds of times' depends on context:

In math context:

I have run this experiment hundreds of times. =>implies > 100 times (a minimum of a hundred times) Because 'hundreds' is plural, I would understand 'hundreds of times' to mean 'at least two hundred'.

I have run this experiment thousands of times => implies > 1000 times (a minimum of a thousand times)

Similarly, at least 2000.

In non-math context:

You have asked me this same question hundreds of times. => implies many times yes

You have asked me this same question thousands of times => implies many times and, therefore, has no whatsoever difference from 'hundreds of times'? Well, thousands of times sounds a bit more than hundreds of times. But ther's really not much difference.

Best wishes, Clive

Please correct me if I'm wrong