fewer cars

[musicgold]

Hi,

Which one of the following sentences is better?

1. How many fewer green cars than silver cars are there in the parking lot?
2. How many fewer green cars are there in the parking lot than silver cars?


Thanks,

MG.

 

[BobK]

They're both acceptable. I have a slight preference for the first one, because when someone asks 'How man ...fewer than...?' the listener (generally, all things being equal ;-)) starts to think 'than what? - what do I have to compare it with?'. So I think it's clearer to put the object of comparison as early as possible. But sometimes a particular context might call for either.

b