Fewer or Less?
This is one of my hobby horses, and maybe we’ll lose this battle, but still, I didn’t expect to find this mistake made by these folks, Axios. Does it jump out at you when you read this sentence?
Why it matters: Less than 4 in 10 Americans hold a bachelor’s degree — but this group dominates America’s decision-making class.
ai.plus@axios.com for October 5, 2023
Yes! Use “fewer” when you’re counting something, and “less” when you’re measuring, when you can have fractions. I don’t think they expect 3.9 Americans.
Harrumpf.
Use the search box on the right to find more examples of when and when not to use fewer or less.
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less vs Fewer Again
Remember—when you’re counting, use “fewer.” When you’re measuring, use “less.” She used the wrong word.
Their definition of “shrinkflation” is okay, though. Same price, less product.
A Nice Example of Getting Fewer and Less Correct
Here’s the picture:
“The Nib” is a politics- and current events-based site.
Remember: Use “fewer” when you’re counting, and “less” when you’re measuring.
A Correct “Fewer” and a Digression
Occasionally I see a comic that has a grocery store checkout that says “fewer.” Here’s another one. The digression is below the comic.
Okay, digression. This is about the likelihood of picking the fastest line and why we always seem to not pick it. The reason is that line speeds are actually random, and when we pick a line, we compare where we are to the line on each side. That makes the odds of picking the fastest line three to one. So sometimes we do pick the fastest line, but only one out of three times feels worse than it is. I read this in an article in Scientific American, so it must be true.
A Nice example of Less and Few
There was far less interrupting, angry cross-talk and fewer personal attacks than in the presidential debate.
https://www.npr.org/2020/10/08/921323806/4-takeaways-from-the-mike-pence-kamala-harris-vice-presidential-debate
From an NPR summary of the vice presidential debate.
- Note that “cross-talk,” the word that goes with “less” is singular.
- And the word that “fewer” refers to, “attacks,” is plural.
That’s how you do it, folks.