2022-03-22
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน - Set – F - fewer & less
แนะนำการใช้ ตามที่ส่วนใหญ่ใช้ แต่ละท้องถิ่น
ความหมาย อาจผันแปร ตาม ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค
Dictionary.com:
ออกเสียงfewer = “FYOO-er”
ออกเสียง less = “LES”
Dictionary of Problem Words and Expressions:
fewer & less
Both of these words imply a comparison
with something larger in number oramount.
Fewer is preferred when number is involved
(fewerhouses on this street, fewer fish in the stream).
Less is used in several ways:
it is applied to material in bulk (less sugar in the coffee);
with abstractions (less honor in business dealings);
with matters involving degree and value (1 isless than 2).
Although many writers and speakers
use these words interchangeably,
fewer should be used to refer only to
numbers or to units capable of being counted:
“The less money we have, the fewer supplies we can bring.”
The A-Z of Correct English Common Errors in English Dictionary:
fewer & less
FEWER is the comparative form of ‘few’.
It is used with plural nouns:
FEWER vegetables
FEWER responsibilities
FEWER children
LESS is the comparative form of ‘little’.
It is used in the sense
of ‘a small amount’ rather than ‘a fewer number of ’:
LESS enthusiasm
LESS sugar
LESS petrol
LESS THAN is used with number alone,
and expressions of time and distance:
LESS THAN a thousand
LESS THAN ten seconds
LESS THAN four miles
It is considered incorrect to use ‘less’ instead of‘fewer’
although such confusion is frequentin popular speech.
As a rule of thumb,
remember: FEWER = not so many
LESS = not so much
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Less vs. Fewer: Usage Guide
Adjective
The traditional view is that
less applies to matters of degree, value, or amount
and modifies collective nouns, mass nouns,
or nouns denoting an abstract whole
while fewer applies to matters of number
and modifies plural nouns.
Less has been used to modify plural nouns
since the days of King Alfred and the usage,
though roundly decried, appears to be increasing.
Less is more likely than fewer to modify plural nouns
when distances, sums of money, and a few fixed phrases are involved
less than 100 miles
an investment of less than $2000
in 25 words or less
and as likely as fewer to modify periods of time.
in less (or fewer) than four hours
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Usage Notes
'Fewer' and 'Less'
We all want fewer problems and less trouble with fewer and less
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").
However, this isnot a strict rule
and there are accepted instances of
less being used with countable amounts
such as "250 words or less,"
"3 items or less,"
and especially with money ("less than $20")
and distance ("less than 3 miles").
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."
This rule is simple enough and looks easy enough to follow,
but it's not accurate for all usage.
The fact is that less is also sometimes used to refer to
number among things that are counted.
Origins of The Fewer vs Less Rule
This isn't an example of
how modern English is going to the dogs.
Less has been used this way for well over a thousand years
—nearly as long as there's been a written English language.
But for more than 200 years almost every usage writer
and English teacher has declared such use to be wrong.
The received rule seems to have originated
with the critic Robert Baker,
who expressed it not as a law
but as a matter of personal preference.
Somewhere along the way
—it's not clear how
—his preference was generalized
and elevated to an absolute, inviolable rule.
Exceptions to the Rule
Despite the rule,
less used of
things that are countable is standard in many contexts,
and in fact is more likely than fewer
in a few common constructions,
especially ones involving distances
(as in "less than three miles"),
sums of money (as in "less than twenty dollars"),
units of time and weight (as in "less than five years" and
"less than ten ounces"),
and statistical enumerations (as in "less than 50,000 people")
—all things which are often thought of as amounts rather than numbers.
The use of less to modify ordinary plural count nouns
(as in "made less mistakes") is pretty rare in writing
and is usually better avoided,
though it does occur frequently in speech.
But less isactually preferred in
phrases like "an essay of 250 words or less."
It's also—to the chagrin of some
—the preferred choice in the supermarket checkout line's
"twelve items or less" sign.
(Some grocery stores have apparently been convinced by the chagrin, though, and use "items or fewer." They are still very much in the minority.)
Less is common following a number,
as in "a package containing three less than the others,"
and is the typical choice after one, as in "one less worry."
A definitive rule covering all possibilities is maybe impossible.
If you're a native speaker your best bet is to be guided by your ear, choosing the word that sounds more natural in a particular context.
If you're not a native speaker,
the simple rule is a good place to start,
but be sure to consider the exceptions to it as well.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Merriam-Webster’s Great Big
List of Words You Love to Hate
fewer & less
The traditional view
is that less applies to matters of degree, value, or amount
and modifies collective nouns, mass nouns,
or nouns denoting an abstract whole
while fewer applies to matters of number and modifies plural nouns.
The apple-cart of traditional view is often upset by people
who insist on using the language as they see fit.
You may read more about this distinction here.
Let's go ahead and remove "fewer" from the dictionary,
because it is no longer commonly used.
The word "less" has replaced it everywhere,
so why bother keeping it in the dictionary.
"Less" is misused in everyday conversations
- verbal and digital, grocery store checkout lines,
my beloved NPR, my company's training materials,
executive VP company-wide messages, and on and on.
— Comment by D. W. on fewer, 2013
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Usage Notes
Pairs of Commonly Confused Words
Fewer & Less
Question:
Does the average American family
have less than two kids or fewer than two kids?
Answer:
fewer
How to Remember It:
Fewer refers to things that can be counted
(fewer kids, fewer chairs).
Less usually refers to quantities of things that can't be counted
(less coffee, less agitation).
However, under certain circumstances
less, not fewer, is more commonly used with countable things.
For example:
Less than twenty miles,
less than five dollars, and
1500 words or less,
are considered standard.
As for the express lane at the supermarket,
"ten items or fewer" follows the general rule,
but "ten items or less" is also widely accepted and more often used.
Dictionary.com:
WORDS OFTEN CONFUSED WITH LESS
Even though less has been used before plural nouns
(less words; less men )
since the time of King Alfred, many modern usage guides
say that only fewer can be used insuch contexts.
Less, they say, should modify singular mass nouns
(less sugar; less money )
and singular abstract nouns
(less honesty; less love ).
It should modify plural nouns
only when they suggest combination
into a unit, group, or aggregation:
less than $50 (a sum of money);
less than three miles (a unit of distance).
With plural nouns specifying individuals
or readily distinguishable units,
the guides say that fewer is the only proper choice:
fewer words;
fewer men;
no fewer than 31 of the 50 states.
Modern standard English practice does not reflect this distinction.
When followed by than,
less occurs at least as often as fewer
inmodifying plural nouns that are not units or groups,
and the use of less in this construction is increasing
in all varieties of English:
less than eight million people;
no less than 31 of the 50 states.
When not followedby than,
fewer is more frequent only in formal written English,
and in this construction also the use of less is increasing:
This year we have had less crimes, less accidents,
and less fires than in any of the last five years.
Dictionary.com:
MORE ABOUT LESS
What is a basic definition of less?
Less refers to a comparatively smalleramount, quantity, or degree
and can be used in this sense as an adverb, adjective, or noun.
Less has several other senses as an adverb, adjective, noun, and a preposition.
Less is a comparative form of the word little,
with the word least being the superlative.
If something is described as less,
it is “more little” than something else.
Specifically, less by itself often means a smaller number
or amount rather than physical size.
Less can be used in this sense as an adverb, adjective, or a noun.
Because less is a comparative,
it must be used to compare two or more things to make sense.
For example,
“This house is less” makes no sense by itself.
You might wonder. “Less what?”
When we include the item
we are comparing the house to,
you can understand what we mean:
That house is really expensive, but this house costs less.
- Real-life examples:
Used cars often cost less than new ones.
You will earn less money in your first job than in your last job.
You might start out with a lot of questions, but as you learn you may have less.
- Used in a sentence:
I really need to start eating less.
We want to make sure nobody gets less food than anyone else.
When it comes to using pink paint, less is more.
The word less is often confused with the word fewer.
For the most part,
you can use the words less and fewer as synonyms
when comparing amounts of things.
However,
less can compare abstract, uncountable qualities,
while fewer cannot.
For example,
one dog can be said to be less playful than another,
but it cannot be said to be “fewer playful” than another.
Where does less come from?
The first records of less come from before 900.
It ultimately comes from the Old English adverb lǣs and adjective lǣssa.
It is related to the Old Frisian adverb lês and adjective lêssa.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language:
less
Usage Note:
The traditional rule holds that
fewer should be used for things that can be counted
(fewer than four players),
while less should be used with mass nouns
for things of measurable extent
(less paper; less than a gallon of paint).
The Usage Panel largely supports the traditional rule.
In our 2006 survey, only five percent accepted the sentence
There are less crowds at the mall these days,
while 28 percent accepted the following sentence,
in which less is contrasted with more:
The region needs more jobs, not less jobs.
The Panel was a little more accepting
(but still not in favor) of the familiar supermarket usage
The express lane is reserved for shoppers with 10 or less items.
The traditional rule is often hard to follow in practice,
however, in part because plural nouns and mass nouns
are similar in being divisible and in lacking distinct boundaries.
For this reason, plurals and mass nouns are used
in many of the same ways.
Both can be used without determiners
(I like apples, I like applesauce),
and they both can take certain quantifiers
like some and more (more apples, more applesauce).
Less falls in the same class as some and more
and is used in some well-established constructions
where fewer would occur if the traditional rule were applied.
Less than can be used before a plural noun
that denotes a measure of time, amount, or distance:
less than three weeks;
less than $400; less than 50 miles.
Less is sometimes used with plural nouns
in the expressions no less than
(as in No less than 30 of his colleagues signed the letter)
and or less
(as in Give your reasons in 25 words or less).
And the approximator
more or less is normally used after plural nouns
as well as mass nouns:
I have two dozen apples, more or less.
To use fewer in such constructions sounds fastidious,
so writers who follow the traditional rule should do so with caution.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary:
usage:
Many usage guides say that
fewer should be used before plural nouns
specifying individuals or distinguishable units:
fewer words;
no fewer than 31 of the 50 states.
less, the guides maintain, should modify only singular mass nouns
(less sugar; less money)
and singular abstract nouns
(less doubt; less power).
It should modify plural nouns
only when they suggest combination into a unit, group, or aggregation:
less than $50 (a sum of money);
less than three miles (a unit of distance).
Standard English practice
does not consistently reflect these distinctions.
The use of less or less than where usage guides
recommend fewer (than) is common in most varieties of English:
less than eight million people;
no less than 31 of the 50 states;
We did more work with less people.
Though these uses are often criticized,
they appear to be increasing in frequency.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary:
-less
an adjective-forming suffix
meaning “without,” “not having”
that specified by the noun base
(careless; shameless);
added to verbs,
it is equivalent to “un-” plus the present participle of the verb,
or “un-” plus the verb plus “-able” (quenchless; tireless).
Collins COBUID English Dictionary:
less
1. used in front of nouns
You use less in front of an uncountable noun
to say that one quantity is not as big as another,
or that a quantity is not as big as it was before.
A shower uses less water than a bath.
His work gets less attention than it deserves.
Less is sometimes used in front of plural nouns.
This proposal will mean less jobs.
Less people are going to university than usual.
Some people think this use is wrong.
They say that you should use fewer in front of plural nouns, not 'less'.
There are fewer trees here.
The new technology allows products to be made with fewer components than before.
However, fewer sounds formal when used in conversation.
As an alternative to 'less' or 'fewer',
you can use not as many or not so many in front of plural nouns.
These expressions are acceptable in both conversation and writing.
There are not as many cottages as there were.
There aren't so many trees there.
After not as many and not so many
you use as, not 'than'.
2. 'less than' and 'fewer than'
You use less than in front of a noun phrase
to say that an amount or measurement
is below a particular point or level.
It's hard to find a house in Beverly Hills for less than a million dollars.
I travelled less than 3000 miles.
Less than is sometimes used in front of a noun phrase
referring to a number of people or things.
The whole of Switzerland has less than six million inhabitants.
The country's army consisted of less than a hundred soldiers.
Some people think this use is wrong.
They say that you should use fewer than, not 'less than',
in front of a noun phrase referring to people or things.
He had never been in a class with fewer than forty children.
In 1900 there were fewer than one thousand university teachers.
You can use less than in conversation,
but you should use fewer than in formal writing.
However, fewer than can only be used
when the following noun phrase refers to a number of people or things.
Don't use 'fewer than' when the noun phrase refers to an amount or measurement.
Don't say, for example, 'I travelled fewer than 3000 miles.
3. 'less' used in front of adjectives
Less can be used in front of an adjective
to say that someone or something
has a smaller amount of a quality than they had before,
or a smaller amount than someone
or something else has.
After I spoke to her, I felt less worried.
Most of the other plays were less successful.
Be Careful!
Don't use 'less' in front of the comparative form of an adjective.
Don't say, for example, 'It is less colder than it was yesterday'.
Say 'It is less cold than it was yesterday'.
4. 'not as ... as'
In conversation and informal writing, people don't usually
use 'less' in front of adjectives.
They don't say, for example, 'It is less cold than it was yesterday'.
They say 'It is not as cold as it was yesterday'.
The region is not as pretty as the Dordogne.
Not so is also sometimes used, but this is less common.
The officers here are not so young as the lieutenants.
After not as and not so, you use as, not 'than'.
