difference between few and less

[Unregistered]

I would like to know if less is used wrongly in this sentence. There are less accidents on California freeways per car than any other place.

[louhevly]

I would like to know if less is used wrongly in this sentence. There are less accidents on California freeways per car than any other place.

It depends on who you ask. Some will say it must be "fewer" because "accident" is a countable noun. Others will say either is fine, because the rule is arbitrary and baseless and "less" has been used by excellent authors to modify count nouns for years.

That said, almost everyone agrees that "fewer" sounds right; a significant number of folks consider "less" to be a solecism. So my advice would be to go with "fewer".


Lou

[vil]

Hi....,

The traditional rule holds that fewer should be used for things that can be counted, while less should be used with mass terms for things of measurable extent (less paper, less than a gallon of milk)

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."

Regards.

V.

[amigos4]

Nicely done, vil!

Cheers,
Amigos4