When your words need to express a relative quantity or measure, pay close attention to some basic rules. Grammatical errors in this area abound!
First, here’s a little chart (taken from “Common Errors in English Usage” by Paul Bryans, my “go to” authority) to aid the discussion:
|
Amount
|
Number
|
|
quantity
|
number
|
|
little
|
few
|
|
less
|
fewer
|
|
much
|
many
|
When you’re writing or talking about amounts of things that are measured in bulk, use the modifiers in the “Amount” column; when referring to things that can be counted, use the modifiers in the “Number” column.
You can make fewer mistakes, and you’ll speak with less uncertainty. If you make too many blunders, you’ll experience too much frustration.
From Paul Bryans, “If the thing being measured is being considered in countable units, then use a modifier related to numbers. Even a substance which is considered in bulk can also be measured by number of units. For instance, you shouldn’t drink too much wine, but you should also avoid drinking too many glasses of wine. Note that here you are counting glasses. They can be numbered.”
Common Errors:
You might see references to an “amount” of people instead of a “number” of people. If you can count ‘em, and you can, it’s a number of people. Your grocery store’s express line likely has signage that says “15 items or less.” Wrong. Likewise, you will commonly see on surveys or forms “50 or less lawyers,” when it should be “50 or fewer.”
Just to keep you off balance, “more” can be used in either situation: you can make more mistakes and be more uncertain ;-)
And another little exception –– references to units of time and money are usually treated as amounts: less than ten minutes (even though you can count the minutes), less than twenty dollars (even though you can count the dollars). Only when you are referring to specific coins or bills would you use fewer: “I need fewer than five pennies to make my collection complete.”