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What do the following sentences actually mean? Are they the same in meaning?

  1. The cost of living is twice as high in New York as it is in Tokyo.
  2. The cost of living in New York is twice as high in Tokyo.
  3. The cost of living in New York is twice higher than in Tokyo.
  4. The cost of living in New York is two times higher than in Tokyo.

If they have the same meaning, then can I actually use them as a basis for composing other sentences having the same meanings? Such as:

1a. Your child is a hundred times as adorable as your pet dog.
1b. Your child is a hundred times adorable than your pet dog.

2a. Her room is twice as large as mine.
2b. Her room is twice larger than mine.

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    This is clearly not a proofreading question.
    – user230
    Aug 6, 2014 at 14:58

1 Answer 1

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Let CNY = the cost of living in New York, and CT = the cost of living in Tokyo.

Sentences Nos. 1 & 2:

The cost of living is twice as high in New York as it is in Tokyo.
The cost of living in New York is twice as high in Tokyo.

these mean: CNY = 2 × CT
e.g., if it costs $500 per week to live in Tokyo, it would cost $1000 per week to live in NY

Sentence No. 3:

The cost of living in New York is twice higher than in Tokyo.

I would say this one is a non-standard way of making the comparison, and, of your options, it would be better to avoid this one.

Sentence No. 4:

The cost of living in New York is two times higher than in Tokyo.

Again, that's CNY = 2 × CT, but remove the than:

The cost of living in New York is two times higher in Tokyo.

and it means 2 × CNY = CT

e.g., if it costs $500 per week to live in Tokyo, it would cost $250 per week to live in NY

Sentences Nos. 1a & 1b:

Your child is a hundred times as adorable as your pet dog.
Your child is a hundred times adorable than your pet dog.

The first one is okay, but the second one needs an extra word:

Your child is a hundred times more adorable than your pet dog.

Sentences Nos. 2a & 2b:

Her room is twice as large as mine.
Her room is twice larger than mine.

Once again, I'd avoid the second one. However, when dealing with cost, we can use the expression twice as much as:

The cost of living in New York is twice as much as in Tokyo. (CNY = 2 × CT)

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  • Brainfreezeeeeeee! Examples are clear and right but don't you think there are too many of them? Still awesome answer.
    – Berker Yüceer
    Aug 6, 2014 at 14:24
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    @Berker - Too many of them? I only addressed the ones explicitly provided by the O.P. (Nonetheless, I've taken your comment as good feedback, and changed the headers to make that more evident now.)
    – J.R. ♦
    Aug 6, 2014 at 15:20
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    Option 2, "the cost of X in Y is twice as high in Z" is a very awkward phrasing that I would never expect to hear; I would call it improper. If I try to parse it out normally, it comes out as something like "living in New York is twice as expensive if you're actually living in New York in Tokyo".
    – Hellion
    Aug 6, 2014 at 15:46
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    The "add one word" analysis seems incorrect to me. Also, examples 2 and 3 risk having the user think that CNY = 3 × CT.
    – Jasper
    Aug 7, 2014 at 2:33
  • This does not seem right. When x is twice as high as y, that means the value of x is equal to 2y. I'm not sure how you got the opposite equasion out of any of these sentences.
    – lea
    Aug 7, 2014 at 7:15

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