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Less than or fewer than
2

Less than or fewer than

Less than or fewer than

(OP)
English speakers, please help in telling me what are the style rules in using either of both expressions. Thanks.

RE: Less than or fewer than

General rule is:
Less than = smaller amount
Fewer than = smaller number

Good Luck
johnwm
________________________________________________________
To get the best from these forums read FAQ731-376 before posting

RE: Less than or fewer than

I'm trying to use "fewer than" in a sentence and I'm having trouble. I keep coming up with "...fewer of"

Just as I was typing that, one example popped in: "The number of xxx is fewer than the number of yyy."

Other than that, I think you'd generally say "fewer of" instead of "fewer than."

RE: Less than or fewer than

Fewer than is used when comparing relative quantities.  Fewer of is used when comparing against an absolute quantity

TTFN

RE: Less than or fewer than

(OP)
Would you say fewer than 50 engineers, but less than 50 metric tons ?
In other words, less than used for measured quantities, and fewer than for individual items or people ? Thanks.

RE: Less than or fewer than

In general, when used as an adjective:

Use fewer when the noun is something that can be quantified.

Use less when the noun is something abstract, or that cannot be counted.

"Recently I have been working overtime, so I have had less time to spend with my family."

"Since starting my new job, I spend twenty fewer minutes each day commuting."

"I have been going to the strip bar recently, so I have fewer dollar bills in my wallet.  My wife wonders why I have less money."

Of course, as frequently occurs in English, there are exceptions.

"Provide your reply in 25 words or less."

Less can also be used as an adverb:

"I was less happy with my vacation this year than I was last year because I had fewer days to spend on the beach."

RE: Less than or fewer than

MintJulep is right, except for the part about exceptions(this case).

"Of course, as frequently occurs in English, there are exceptions.

'Provide your reply in 25 words or less.'"

Although, I must say that I use it in that manner, myself.  


I know that Meijer(grocery) stores changed the signs for their express aisles from "12 items or less" to "12 items or fewer.  Apparently they actually had complaints from some customers.  Some people couldn't let it slide.  Haha, who knew?

-Jeff

RE: Less than or fewer than

(OP)
To JeffH35, from Webster's Collegiate Dictionary:

Quote: "usage...Less is more likely than fewer to modify plural nouns when distances, sums of money, and a few fixed phrases are involved [less than 100 miles] [and investment of less than $2000] [in 25 words or less] and as likely as fewer to modify periods of time [(in less (or fewer) than four hours]." Unquote.

It seems MintJulep is right after all.

RE: Less than or fewer than

Jeff,

If you check the archives, you will see that I actually started a thread some time ago noting that grocery store express lanes should be "..or fewer."

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