Is it much less or much fewer?

2021-02-14 john

Is it much less or much fewer?

In current usage, “many fewer” is more common than “much fewer” Both much fewer and many fewer are used today in formal written English; apparently much fewer was originally the only form used, but many fewer is more common nowadays.

Is many fewer grammatically correct?

In fact, the phrase “many fewer,” despite its seeming contradiction, is perfectly correct. That’s because the adjective “many” is used with countable items (discrete or separate entities), such as people, pebbles and polliwogs.

Is many more or much more?

You use “much more” in front of an uncountable noun. Another example: I need much more time to do this job. On the other hand, you use “many more” in front of plural nouns such as I have many more friends in this city.

Can you say many less?

Many is sometimes used to modify less (before a plural noun) and fewer, but this is unusual; far, a lot etc are more common. I suggest that you say “there are a lot fewer people” or “there are far fewer people”.

Is it 10 items or less or fewer?

Since the reign of Alfred the Great, a time when Old English was spoken, less has been used in the same way that fewer is currently used. This long history of usage accounts for supermarkets posting the words “10 Items or Less” over the express lanes, when “10 Items or Fewer” is the grammatically correct option.

What is the difference between fewer and less?

Generally, fewer is used when the number of things is counted (“fewer problems”) whereas less is used when the number is measured (“less trouble” or “less time”).

What does how many fewer mean?

: a smaller number of persons or things. fewer. adjective. Definition of fewer (Entry 2 of 2) comparative of few.

Is much more correct grammar?

How do you use fewer?

According to usage rules, fewer is only to be used when discussing countable things, while less is used for singular mass nouns. For example, you can have fewer ingredients, dollars, people, or puppies, but less salt, money, honesty, or love. If you can count it, go for fewer. If you can’t, opt for less.

Do you say one fewer or one less?

Some prescriptivists argue that even the extremely rare and completely unidiomatic “one fewer” should be used instead of “one less” (both when used alone or together with a singular, discretely quantifiable noun as in “there is one fewer cup on this table”), but Merriam–Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage clearly …

When to use many more or many fewer?

Both much and many can be used, but which is appropriate depends on whether the noun they’re referring to is countable or not. With countable nouns, use many more or many fewer: I had many more bananas than Tom. I had many fewer nickels than Alice.

There’s a commonly repeated rule about fewer and less. It goes like this: fewer is used to refer to number among things that are counted, as in “fewer choices” and “fewer problems”; less is used to refer to quantity or amount among things that are measured, as in “less time” and “less effort.”

Which is correct many or many fewer apples?

As such, many cannot modify the adjective fewer; only an adverb can modify an adjective. Much fewer is simply more correct than many fewer, despite its cacophony. Many modifies a noun: many apples. Much modifies the adjective: much fewer apples or far fewer apples.

Which is correct many more or many more people?

According to Google Books Ngram Viewer, COCA, Ludwig and storywrangler, “many more people” is much more frequently used than “much more people”. A search on the NOW corpus shows that “many more” modifies countable nouns while “much more” is followed by uncountable nouns in most cases.