This is part of a reading exercise from my new TOEFL text - Scoring Strategies for the TOEFL iBT, A Complete Guide to TOEFL Success. There are questions, but I have not added them here. The point about fewer v. less is the focus.
The comparative fewer is rapidly disappearing from the English canon, replaced by the ubiquitous—and grammatically incorrect—less. For example, it's quite common to see ads that read, "Eat Mary's Ice Cream. It has less calories." Politicians also commit this grammatical faux pas by saying, "Americans need to pay less taxes!" As you know, fewer takes a plural countable noun, such as, "Joe has fewer problems than Al," or "The effect of colony collapse disorder has resulted in fewer honey bees." Note that we can count calories (one calorie, two calories) and problems (one problem, two problems), and honey bees (one honey bee, two honey bees). Less, in contrast, takes a non countable noun, such as "English teachers make far less money than corporate lawyers." Can we count money (one money, two monies)? No. Sadly, the word fewer will soon be one for the history books.
The Pro
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- The TOEFL Police -
© Bruce Stirling 2010-11
