'likelihood'

[Meerak869]

I read in an explanation to an OG question that likelihood is count noun and greater is used for it not more.

The explanation is as below

As the second part of the structure refers to 'likelihood', we need 'greater'. 'greater' is used when the noun is a number. For example: percentage, rate, likelihood, distance and population.

Also, 'likelihood' means 'the probability of a specified outcome'. Thus, it's imprecise to say they had a likelihood/probability of coronary disease. The correct usage should be "likelihood of having coronary disease'.

why cant we say
the more coffee these doctors drank, the more was their likelihood of having coronary disease
why we need to accept below usage
the more coffee these doctors drank, the greater was their likelihood of having coronary disease

can likelihood of having a disease usage is correct? Please explain?

[RonPurewal]

i wrote about this on another forum, a long time ago:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/greater-vs-m ... tml#381739

[RonPurewal]

and this thread is now locked, because
1/ OG problems are not allowed here,
2/ i don't know where this 'explanation' is from. (it's not written in the style of official explanations, so it's safe to assume it isn't an official explanation.)

please read the forum rules before posting. thank you.