JS Tip 625: Less and Fewer

From the Writing Workshops: Ripped from the Headlines  

Oh, well. 

We were going to talk about active and passive voice, but events interceded. 

On Saturday, during one of the college basketball games, the announcer mentioned Springfield (we’re substituting names here) “has played less games than Shelbyville.”  

No. 

No, no, no, no, no. 

With all due respect to James Naismith, the NCAA, and everyone involved, that’s wrong. The usage is wrong.  

“Less” describes things that can’t be counted. 

“Less power.” “Less enthusiasm.” “Less talk.” 

None of these can be counted, so “less” is correct. 

But . . .   

“Fewer” describes things that can be counted. 

Fewer people. Fewer problems. Fewer books. 

The number of basketball games a team plays in a season: “Springfield has played fewer games than Shelbyville.”

These things can be counted—one, two, three, four, so “fewer” is correct. 

But the sign in the supermarket: “Ten items or less”? Forget about it. Lost cause.

This is fun.