Word Choice Fewer vs. Less - Proofread My Papers Academic Blog

Word Choice Fewer vs. Less - Proofread My Papers Academic Blog Word Choice: Fewer vs. Less Confusions between â€Å"fewer† and â€Å"less† can provoke fury among pedants: In the UK, one store even changed its signs after a campaign to enforce correct grammar! The difference between â€Å"fewer† and â€Å"less† is subtle, though, so it’s easy to mix them up in your written work (or on your shop signs) if youre not careful. Fewer (Countable Quantities) The word â€Å"fewer† means â€Å"a smaller number of people or things.† More specifically, â€Å"fewer† applies to things you can count or number, like stones or apples: There were seven apples in this bowl, now there are four; that’s three fewer than yesterday. We say â€Å"fewer† here because â€Å"apple† is a countable noun (i.e., apples can be counted out as individual apples). Less (Uncountable Quantities) The word â€Å"less† simply means â€Å"not so much† or â€Å"smaller in amount.† It differs from â€Å"fewer† by applying principally to uncountable nouns, usually substances or concepts that cannot be counted individually, such as water or pain: My shoulder still aches, but I’m in less pain than I was. The use of â€Å"less† indicates the pain has reduced. However, it doesn’t imply a severe pain is an accumulation of smaller pains in the same way that a bowl of apples contains several apples. Fewer or Less? A good tip for knowing when to use â€Å"fewer† or â€Å"less† is to consider whether the word modified is singular or plural, since singular terms take â€Å"less† and plural terms take â€Å"fewer.† This can be judged by whether the word would usually be followed by â€Å"is† or â€Å"are.† For instance, we say â€Å"water is wet† rather than â€Å"waters are wet† because water is a singular noun. Likewise, we say â€Å"apples are delicious† rather than â€Å"apples is delicious† because â€Å"apples† is plural. By working out whether were describing a singular or plural noun, we determine which of â€Å"fewer† or â€Å"less† to use: Singular/Countable Nouns = Fewer Plural/Uncountable Nouns = Less Time, Money and Distance One more thing to keep in mind is that quantities of time, money and distance usually take â€Å"less† rather than â€Å"fewer.† This is because we treat measurements as singular rather than plural. For example, although $100 could be counted out as one hundred individual dollars, we usually think of it as a single quantity of one hundred dollars. Hence we say â€Å"$100 is too much to pay,† not â€Å"$100 are too much to pay.† Likewise, when it comes to â€Å"fewer† and â€Å"less,† we usually say â€Å"I have less than $100,† not â€Å"I have fewer than $100.†