--for those who speak English as their second language or who just want to improve their writing
(Text-only version of Quirks of English)
Appropriate word choice not only helps you communicate exactly what you mean but also indicates your mastery of the language. Knowing the niceties translates to knowing the shibboleths (a term from the Hebrew shibbOleth, meaning stream) from the use of this word in Judges 12:6 as a test to distinguish Gileadites from Ephraimites, who pronounced it sibbOleth. This month's Word Wizards article is based on the second meaning of shibboleth given in Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913--It's old, but it's good and it's free.), "a use of language regarded as distinctive of a particular group," and refers to correct usage as dictated by formal writing. Over the next few months, we will consider several words that are frequently misused.
Less, fewer, and lesser are all used in comparisons, but they should not be used interchangeably. The comparative adjective less refers to matters of degree, value, amount, size, or quantity and things that can be measured; it modifies collective nouns, mass nouns, or nouns denoting an abstract whole:
Because we lived on a farm, we had less company than our city cousins had. (collective noun)
Our yard had less snow than our neighbor's. (mass noun)
When I went to high school, there was less truancy than exists today. (abstract noun)
The comparative adjective fewer refers to matters of number and to things that can be counted; it modifies plural nouns:
One currently sees fewer sedans than SUV's on the road.
The comparative adjective lesser refers to quality, degree, or significance; it connotes a lower status:
Have you ever read the novel Children of a Lesser God?
The Lesser Antilles are islands in the West Indies and include the Virgin, Leeward, and Windward.
Spend less time on your technical reports, yet make fewer mistakes, let Editorial help.
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Last updated: 1/20/2009