Certain sets of words in the English language tend to confuse people. I have found the following to be among them:
FEWER / LESS
The adjective fewer should be used when referring to things that are counted whereas less is more appropriately used with “bulk nouns” or things not individually counted (e.g., fewer dairy cows means less milk produced).
INCORRECT: Jacob has less pencils than Cindy.
CORRECT: Jacob has fewer pencils than Cindy.
ALSO CORRECT: Manuel makes less money than Pedro even though Pedro works fewer hours.
ALSO CORRECT: If you put fewer weights on that bar, you’ll have less weight to lift. But then you’ll burn fewer calories, which means you’ll lose less weight.
© 2018 Ann Henry. All Rights Reserved.