Reduce to or "reduce by"?

Question

Can I use the verb *reduce* in the following way? Also can anyone help me verify the whole sentence? >The transmission overhead is reduced to more than 95%.

Answer 1

Hello! Whether you use "to" or "by" in this sentence depends on what you want to say.

To: If you say something is reduced to 95% of its capacity, that means the capacity is 5% less than what it originally was. It is operating at almost full capacity. A full bathtub that is reduced to 95% is a bathtub that is still almost full.

By: If you say something is reduced by 95% of its capacity, that means the capacity is 95% less than what it originally was. It is practically non-functional. A full bathtub that is reduced by 95% is a bathtub that is almost empty.

Because the sentence says "more than 95%," I think you probably mean "by," as to say something is reduced to more than something is sort of contrary - "reduced" means less, but "more," obviously, means more. To say it's reduced by more than 95% would mean that it's operating at even less than 5% capacity. Check the context of the surrounding sentences and see which case best fits what you are trying to convey. Feel free to post more information if this does not clear up the difference for you.

Answer 2

Well it depends on the actual reduction. If you reduce it to 95%, then the transmission overhead is reduced by 5%. If you reduce by 95% then the overhead is reduced to 5%. For example, if the overhead is $100 and you reduce it to 95%, the new overhead is $95. If you reduce it by 95%, the new overhead is $5. It's a big difference, isn't it?

Answer 3

You offered the following sentence:

"The transmission overhead is reduced to more than 95%."

To say the overhead has been reduced TO more than 95% means that your transmission overhead is still at over 95% of the original value.

If you said:

"The transmission overhead is reduced BY more than 95%."

This would mean that the quantity of overhead has decreased to 5% of its original amount.