Less versus fewer | Frequently confused words | Usage | Grammar Video Lecture | Complete Course on English Grammar: Upgrade your Speaking & Listening - Personal Skills

hello grammarians hello Robi hi David uh
so you called me into the recording
booth today yes
because uh you have a bone to pick with
me a little bit yeah so I have always in
my usage I've always drawn a distinction
between less and fewer I wouldn't say
I'm one of those sticklers that goes
around correcting signs at the grocery
store checkout you know if it says like
15 items or less I'm not going to take
out like a black sharpie and say no cure
but I do I do think that there is a
distinction in usage between the two but
you told me that there is not as much as
I would like to believe look like I'm
the last person that wants to needlessly
subscribe to grammar superstitions right
our job is to go around with our little
needle of truths and problems yes that's
what that's what I'm gonna try to do or
I'm gonna try to argue this ok dislodge
me from my part right I'm going to make
a broad statement to start with and we
can come dig into it but my my argument
is that you can use less to mean or to
refer to both countable items count
nouns and to larger mass nouns but you
can only use fewer to refer to count
nouns like five items or fewer but you
couldn't say fewer water so you are
acknowledging that there is a difference
oh definitely
so okay so Ruby what what are count
nouns and mass nouns good question so
count nouns are essentially nouns that
you can count individually as an
individual entity so an example between
these two count noun would be grains of
sand okay so I can count not that I want
two grains of sand individually but I
guess what you're saying is I couldn't
count
sand sand like let's say for some reason
you and I were having a sand counting
contest
the pet plucking individual grains of
sand from the beach with tweezers
putting in a bucket I could say I have
fewer grains of sand than you do right
but I couldn't say I have fewer sand is
that what you're saying that is what I'm
saying
fewer just it just doesn't in standard
English it just doesn't go with these
mass nouns you know fewer sand fewer I'm
getting fewer Sun than I used to you
would say I'm getting less fun than I
used to for example if you're talking
about being out in the Sun sure versus
hours of sun exposure right you could
get fewer hours of sanics and exposure
but my argument and this is where I
think you and I differ is that I believe
you could also say I'm getting less
hours of sun exposure hmm and the reason
that I feel this way okay is that this
trend or this this idea that that fewer
always has to go with a count noun is
really just as far as I can figure just
a thing that some guy named Robert Baker
wrote in this book what do you mean some
guy he was like somewhat of dude
invented any wasn't see wasn't Sunday I
guess he was he was at the time he was
sort of a front-runner in terms of
talking about language and he wrote this
book that was called reflections on the
English language in 1770 and what Robert
Baker said in the book and this is I
mean people have looked at this and
tried to to trace the origins of this
fewer less issue with count nouns and
Robert Baker said this word is most
commonly used in speaking of a number
where I should think fewer would do
better no fewer than a hundred appears
to me not only more elegant than no less
than 100 but strictly proper she did
just kind of decide arbitration he did I
mean he's really stating his opinion
here he says you know appears to me not
only more elegant than no less 100 but
strictly proper okay so maybe this
we proper is sounds sound a little
intimidating but he's you staining an
opinion here are you something about the
word yes
he's talking about the word less the
word less is most commonly used in
speaking the number and he just thinks
that I feel like fewer would do better
so he's going on this gut impulse which
is for the record fine
that is fine right like there's nothing
would you think there's anything
ungrammatical about saying there is
fewer I get fewer son
I guess not it it's just not the way
that we speak in standard English just
style and culture right that dictates
the way that we feel of our words right
and so I guess that's what I'm getting
at is in in standard English these days
we see we see less being used for both
when referring to both count nouns and
mass nouns and I think that's fine
alright yeah I don't I don't see any
problem with that especially since the
only real reasoning that that anybody
can find to go on is this one person's
opinion from 1770 so I think we can say
less to refer to countable items and
lest you think that we're replacing one
dude opinion from 1770 with two people's
opinion from the present like I guess
that's a legitimate criticism that you
could make but what we're trying to say
is that this reflects the way that
language is commonly used and understood
now right this isn't just the two of us
making an arbitrary rule which by the
way Rosie I'm now on your side I am I
thought I buy into this you can use
Lester for a town nouns and mass nouns
but fewer only refer to count nouns I
get that um because it actually reflects
the way that these words are used in
what is called the corpus of English
like the body of language that bounces
around every day exactly and and the one
exception that I would say it comes back
to this question of context and style
that Dave and I have been talking about
if you're writing a formal paper
probably want to use fewer to refer to
count nouns because in that context I
mean that's still kind of what's on the
books as the quote right way okay so
this is the more the more formal option
they're both correct but this is more
formal right I would say so okay well
cool Thank You Rosie
oh you're welcome I feel like I learned
something today
thank you for for disabusing me of this
of this superstition of course and thank
you for Marian you can learn anything
David out Rosie up