Is it ‘fewer’ or ‘less’?
It’s chucking it down out. I’m uncharacteristically hyped up on one cup of coffee. It’s half term so I’m not at college for my Exercise to Music training. (I’m training to be an aerobics instructor – bouncing around is the yin to my sitting and staring at words yang.)
So, what’s a gal to do? Write a post I’ve been meaning to explain since I started this biz but just haven’t felt the oomph to type!
What’s the difference between ‘less’ and ‘fewer’?
You’ll likely give less than the fewest of flips which is which when you’re speaking, but you want to be sure of what’s what when you’re writing content.
Let’s smash this out. Actually, it’s more like count it out.
The way to remember this involves numbers and fingers. As does most maths for me.
It’s based on the assumption that you have a hand with five pokey appendages. (They’re phalanges if we’re getting specific – learned that in the Anatomy & Physiology part of my training. Learning about insides is not for the squeamish. Yes, I am squeamish.) I’m including the thumb as one of those five fingers. Go with it.
Let’s look at ‘fewer’
Fewer is for countable things, so there aren’t as many of them. You can count a specific number of those things.
Example 1: She may be buzzing off her face, but Bernadette’s drunk fewer cups of coffee today than usual.
Example 2: I’ve bought fewer matching Lycra outfits for my aerobics classes than I’d planned because I only buy second-hand clothes and finding my size is tricky.
Example 3: The Girls Aloud song Something Kinda Ooooh has fewer beats per minute than Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out for a Hero.
Let’s break those down…
In example 1: you can count the cups of coffee (or dirty cups lined up by the sink waiting for someone who is not me to wash them).
In example 2: you can count the matching Lycra ensembles I’ve shoved in a bag for life under my bed as there’s no room in my drawers.
In example 3: you can count the beats per minute. Or give it a good ol’ Google, like I’ve been doing to plan my aerobics routine.
How I remember ‘fewer’
Fewer can be counted on your fingers.
Fewer and fingers both begin with an F.
Fewer has five letters and hands have five fingers. (See!)
Now more on ‘less’
Less is for uncountable stuff when there’s not as much of it knocking around.
Example 1: She may be buzzing off her face, but Bernadette’s drunk less coffee today than she normally does.
Example 2: There’s less space in my chest of drawers because I’ve crammed in a couple of new (not-new) shellsuit bottoms.
Example 3: I do less work on a computer now I’m sweating it out to Girls Aloud and Bonnie Tyler.
So for those…
In example 1: you can’t count liquid. This one’s about the caffeine elixir itself. In the fewer example it was all about the cups of coffee.
In example 2: you can’t count space. Although you can roll up shellsuit bottoms smaller than you think and squish them in. Beats tracksuit bottoms – those things are chunky.
In example 3: you can’t count work. And take this as a sign to have a little break from yours. Go shake it out and shake it off.
How I remember ‘less’
I’ve got two pretty tenuous options for you.
The ‘ss’ in less stands for small stuff. You can’t easily count grains of sand or salt or sugar.
The ‘ss’ in less stands for sloppy stuff. You can’t count coffee or soup or sweat or chicken chasseur. (Such a 1993 sachet flashback – but we’re talking sloppy contents here, not counting out-of-date kitchen cupboard sachets.)
You can count on an exception to the rule
Less may be for uncountable things, but it’s also used for quantities that are made up of countable things too…
Time: I’ll be a qualified Exercise to Music instructor in less than three months. Assuming I pass. I’d better do – I have so many exceptional outfits to slink on and stretch out.
Money: I prefer to spend less than five quid on a pair of someone else’s old cycling shorts. They’re fab for under skirts in summer. Chubby thigh life and all.
Distance: I drove just less than seven miles to pick up the collection-only shellsuit bottoms I snapped up on eBay. They’ve got bright pink and purple triangles down the thigh. Hot.
Barely less than five years
How has this post been hanging about for me to write it for almost five years?! I hammered this out on the keyboard in an afternoon. Maybe I had to wait all this time just to have aerobics examples? It seems Lycra lends itself to both my lines of work. (And the same brand colours. I like what I like!)
While I’m off to scroll through Depop and Vinted for pre-sweated-in activewear, you can check out the difference between these other confusables:
Those will keep you busy while your autumnal chasseur is simmering.
