less/fewer than

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Alienvoord

#514184 Thu, 15 May 08 09:51 PM

less has been used with count nouns for 1000 years. The prescription against this usage has no foundation. Examples from Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage.

Alienvoord

Joined on Tue, Jul 25 2006

Toronto

Full Member (315)

I'm a Canadian English speaker

Nouns

CalifJim

#514196 Thu, 15 May 08 10:09 PM

Tanit
"Less than * hectares": 647 results in universities' websites, 473 in governments' websites
"Fewer than * hectares": 28 results in universities' websites, 16 in governments' websites

I would imitate the usage of the majority here, and for all cases of measurements. I don't think it's necessary to take an extremely conservative path for these even in formal writing. In fact, the use of "fewer" in these cases sounds a bit rough on my ear -- as if the writer were trying just a little too hard to be proper and only succeeded in looking foolish. Smile

CalifJim

Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004

California

Veteran Member (16,538)

"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

Universities

Tanit

#514199 Thu, 15 May 08 10:18 PM

Thanks, Alienvoord and CJ.
We (my coauthor and I) sent the article nearly two months ago, and hopefully it will be published at the beginning of next year. We wrote "less than ... " as everybody here suggested.
I must admit I was very confused, but now ... can I say it's carved in my mind? (this would be a literal translation form Italian Smile

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