Is it 10 items or less or fewer?

Is it 10 items or less or fewer?

“10 items or less” is not correct! This is wrong – it should be “10 items or fewer” because “items” is a countable noun. This goes to show you that even native English speakers sometimes break the rules of English grammar!

Do you say fewer than or less than?

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.

What is the rule for fewer and less?

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.”

Is less than the same as fewer than?

Summary: 1. “Less than” is used for quantities which cannot be counted, for example, “The employment rate in 2009 was less than it was in 2010.” Whereas “fewer than” is used for quantities which can be counted. For example, “Her shopping basket has fewer items than her friend’s shopping basket.”

Is it 12 items or less or 12 items or fewer?

“12 items or fewer” is correct/standard and “12 items or less” is incorrect/non-standard though common. It sounds common to me too. Less should only be used for non-countable nouns, so “less water”, “less time” but “fewer apples” and “fewer people”. “a glass of water or less” would be correct.

How do you use fewer in a sentence?

Fewer sentence example

1. At least for the present, the fewer people who knew, the better.
2. In 2000, Africa had fewer than five million Internet users.
3. We can make better food that uses fewer resources.
4. One little girl had fewer presents than the rest, and Helen insisted on sharing her gifts with her.

What is the difference between fewer and less?

Fewer means “not as many.” We use fewer with countable nouns like cookies. Less means “not as much.” We use less with uncountable nouns like milk. Could you give Cookie Monster less milk next time?

What does it mean fewer than?

Definition. The term is used to refer to small size, amount or degree of a given quantity. The term is used to refer to ‘a small number’ of a given quantity. Used for.

Is much fewer grammatically correct?

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.

What happened to the word fewer?

It’s being replaced by “less” and seemingly falling into disuse.

When to use fewer or less in a sentence?

If you are counting units of time, however, you should use fewer. In the following example, we are specifying exact numbers of days, not a chunk or set amount of time: The statute requires our response in not fewer than 10 or more than 20 days. Thus, in a word, use less when you cannot count the noun modified. Use fewer when you can.

What’s the difference between fewer and less problems?

We all want fewer problems and less trouble with fewer and less. Last Updated: 20 Jun 2019. What to Know. 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).

Which is the comparative form of the word fewer?

Fewer is the comparative form of the word few, which means ‘a small amount’ or ‘number’ of something. We use the comparative fewer to describe how small an amount is in comparison to another known number.

Why do we say 10 items or fewer?

If we use strict English grammar, the sign should read “10 items or fewer” because the items are countable. However, since there are several exceptions for phrases concerning bulk quantities, most people let this rule slide. Did you know?: Up until the 18th century, native speakers paired the word “less” with countable nouns.