Teleostomi Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
"much fewer" or "many fewer"?
(1) There are a lot of mice, but much fewer cats in the room.
(2) There are a lot of mice, but many fewer cats in the room.
Which is correct, or wrong?
(2) There are a lot of mice, but many fewer cats in the room.
Which is correct, or wrong?
Top answer
Teleostomi (1) There are a lot of mice, but much fewer cats in the room. (2) There are a lot of mice, but many fewer cats in the room. Which is correct, or wrong?
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Teleostomi(1) There are a lot of mice, but much fewer cats in the room.Sentence 1 is correct.
(2) There are a lot of mice, but many fewer cats in the room.
Which is correct, or wrong?
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much fewer: fewer is an adjective and is modified by much as an adverb of degree.
Many is a determiner, that is, a noun modifier, and can not modify an adjective.
Many is a determiner, that is, a noun modifier, and can not modify an adjective.
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Interesting.
the google hits:
"many fewer"------772,000
"much fewer"-------570,000
How to explain?
the google hits:
"many fewer"------772,000
"much fewer"-------570,000
How to explain?
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MapleLook for 'unviersity' in Google, and you'll be able to get a lot of examples. You cannot depend on Google to prove your point!
Interesting.
the google hits:
"many fewer"------772,000
"much fewer"-------570,000
How to explain?
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I agree that you can't rely on Google exclusively, but with almost 3/4 of a million hits, and more hits than the thus-far preferred "much fewer" you have to take the results seriously.
I would say "far fewer" as my first choice, "many fewer" as my second. "Many," like "fewer," is used for things you can count. "Much, like "less," is used for things you cannot count. Therefore "much" and "
I would say "far fewer" as my first choice, "many fewer" as my second. "Many," like "fewer," is used for things you can count. "Much, like "less," is used for things you cannot count. Therefore "much" and "
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Simple Search of BNC-World
Your query wasmuch fewer
http://sara.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/A0.html#A04 439 A well-known picture book of Italian art alone contains more than 4,000 reproductions, yet histories of art, as we have s
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Native speakers seem to be just as confused as anybody.
BNC (British National Corpus) search results:
http://sara.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/saraWeb?qy=much+fewer
BNC (British National Corpus) search results:
http://sara.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/saraWeb?qy=much+fewer
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BNC search results:
http://sara.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/saraWeb?qy=much+fewer
http://sara.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/saraWeb?qy=many+fewer
Many
http://sara.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/saraWeb?qy=much+fewer
http://sara.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/saraWeb?qy=many+fewer
Many
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Re: "Ten items or less"
A supermarket I often shop at has two express lanes side by side.
One has the sign "Ten items or less".
The other, "Ten items or fewer"!
I think it's called covering all bases!
A supermarket I often shop at has two express lanes side by side.
One has the sign "Ten items or less".
The other, "Ten items or fewer"!
I think it's called covering all bases!
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Seriously? That's funny! Or sad. I'm not sure which. When a supermarket near me switched from "or less" to "or fewer" I told the girl at the register that it made me happy and she looked at me like I had two heads. And the person I was with at the time (I'm no longer dating him, thank you) thought it was just so weird that I would even notice, let alone be happy about it.
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