fewer

Anonymous Is this correct?I have one fewer contract for 2013 than I did this time last year for 2012.

Hi,

I'd change the word order in the sentence: I have one contract fewer for 2013 than I did this time last year for 2012.


See this:

Tough, if you put the phrase "have one fewer" into the search engine, you get 900000 hits with some world-class newspapers using it.

AnonymousTough, if you put the phrase "have one fewer" into the search engine, you get 900000 hits with some world-class newspapers using it.

If you try the Corpus of Contemporary American English, a very reliable guide to what people actually say and write, there are 207 citations for one less + singular noun and only 27 for one fewer + singular nou

Here is what the Oxford Dictionary says on the matter: http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/less-or-fewer

You should use fewer as the contacts are plural and can be counted

Based on American usage, the word order is " I have one fewer contract for 2013 than I did this time last year ". Some may accept "one less ...", like this classic song:

Kevin MiddletonYou should use fewer as the contacts are plural and can be counted

That may be Oxford's opinion as to what people should do, but the COCA has shown that it is not what American speakers writers do do.The British National Corpus confirms that British writers also prefer (20:3) the singular form.

Just because people do it doesn't mean it's correct. If one doesn't care about the correct answer, then the question is irrelevant in the first place. Surely the point of asking the question is to find the "right" answer, no?

I see countless cases where where people write "could of" when they mean "could have" or "been" when they mean "being" or "bought" when they mean "brought." All wron

Kevin MiddletonJust because people do it doesn't mean it's correct. If one doesn't care about the correct answer, then the question is irrelevant in the first place.

To an extent. However, if the majority of writers and speakers prefer one form, then who are Oxford or anyone else to say that it is not correct?

Kevin MiddletonI

fivejedjon..if the majority of writers and speakers prefer one form, then who are Oxford or anyone else to say that it is not correct?

It's not about quantity, it's about quality.

You are absolutely correct, it does not guarantee that it is correct. That said, I'm gonna take heed of their strap line "the world's most trusted dictionaries," and guess that they have done some fairly thorough checking.