Fewer vs. Less

Surprisingly, a quick trip to the grocery store can actually make you smarter!

It all starts when you duck out of the office at 5:30 sharp on Friday to rush to pick up organic baby spring greens, slivered almonds, and dried cranberries.

You’re in a hurry.

Because it’s date night.

And you’re cooking.

You really wanted to make your famous fall salad to accompany the eggplant Parmesan (that you still have to get in the oven!).

(Yes, you’re going vegetarian tonight.)

Three things. That’s all you need. So you boldly walk past the stacks of red, plastic shopping baskets as you enter the store.

And you power walk through the aisles searching for those three items.

Mission accomplished! You found everything you need in just under five minutes, and you head to the “Express Checkout” line.

As you approach, you notice that the person ahead of you has A. Ton. Of. Stuff!

Waaayyy more than the allowed maximum of 10 items.

For an instant, you fear you got into the wrong line.

Your eyes dart to the sign. It reads: “10 items or less.”

Ugh! Seriously?!

Now you don’t know if you’re angrier with the inconsiderate shopper, who stepped into the wrong line. Or the grocer’s sign!

We all know that less is used with non-countable nouns, whereas fewer is used with countable nouns. Right???

Well, that is a common belief. However, a better differentiator is

• Fewer is used with plural nouns, such as:
  • pieces of lettuce
  • oxygen molecules
  • cats
• Less is used with singular nouns, such as:
  • lettuce
  • oxygen
  • cat
• NOTE: There are a few common exceptions that appear to be plural but are considered singular nouns because they are treated as one unit/group.
  • money ($250 is a lot of money!)
  • distance (75 miles is really far away!)
  • time (5 hours is too long to wait!)

Let’s see how else the less vs. fewer debate might affect your daily life.

Example 1:

If you are exchanging pleasantries with your cute neighbor, and you want to talk about the weather, and more specifically, the rain, you might say:

“Less rain fell last night than the night before.”

Why? Rain is considered a singular noun.

If you wanted to use fewer, you would have to use a plural noun. What comes to mind? Raindrops. It is conceivable that you could say:

“Fewer raindrops fell last night, compared to the night before.”

(But then you would probably run into that cute neighbor a lot less … for some strange reason … So I would not recommend doing that—Stick with rain!)

Example 2:

If you’re considering adopting a pet, you will discuss fees at some point. You may be pleasantly surprised and say something like:

 “Two hundred dollars is less than I expected to pay to adopt a pet.”

* Note that in the example above, two hundred dollars is viewed as an amount, which makes it a singular noun. Therefore, less is used.

If you really want to turn the money into a plural noun you would need to refer to the actual bills.

Maybe you will state that you need to run to the ATM because you have fewer than four $50 bills in your wallet.

* Note that in the example above, we are referring to the individual bills, which are multiple. And when we have a plural noun, we use fewer.

So … back to our lovely grocer’s sign: 10 items or less.

Some people consider “10 items” a group, which would be a singular noun. Therefore, people in that camp prefer signs worded as “10 items or less.”

However, others would view each individual item on the grocer’s conveyor belt, and therefore deem “10 items” to be a plural noun. This camp supports a sign that reads: “10 items or fewer.”

Depending on which style guide a grocer follows, she should pick her sign accordingly. Some style guides fall into the “fewer” camp, whereas others fall into the “less” camp.

If seeing the “10 items or fewer” sign makes your skin crawl, know that there are a few enlightened grocers out there.

Stew Leonard’s World’s Largest Dairy Store goes a step further than any other grocery store I have ever visited. There are both less and fewer signs in his stores.

(Stew built his business on the principle that the customer is always right. One can only assume that he does this to not run afoul of either camp.)

So, to wrap up today’s grammar nugget (or is it a boulder at this point?) … you can argue for 10 items or less OR 10 items or fewer.

Either way, please do not get into the Express Checkout Line if you have more than the maximum number of items allowed. (Some of us have to finish cooking for date night!)

If you want that fall salad recipe, tweet and you shall receive!

@JillBarletti or @Snowflake_Story.