the least pages or the fewest pages

Instructor1955

Hello Teachers!!
I 'd like to share with you this Grammar Quiz :

This book is the thinnest; it has .......A) the least pages
B) the fewest pages

Since "pages" is countable, I think it should be "B" (at least in a grammar test).
Am I wrong?
(This is a question for Barbara! It reminds me of "10 items or less/fewer")

EDITED: the more I think of it, the more "the fewest pages" doesn't sound good to my ears.

This book is the thickest; it has the most pages. Therefore, That book is the thinnest; it has the least pages.

The opposite of 'most' is 'least'.

I agree with your first reaction, Tanit. Prescriptively speaking, you would say:

"That book has the least information" (uncountable)
or
"That book has the fewest pages." (countable)

Yoong Liat
The opposite of 'most' is 'least'.

Hi YL,

Actually, I was taught that it depends on whether the noun is countable or uncountable:
less money - fewer friends.


As I said earlier,

YankeeI agree with your first reaction, Tanit. Prescriptively speaking, you would say:

"That book has the least information" (uncountable)
or
"That book has the fewest pages." (countable)

Thanks for your clarification, Amy.

May I ask you what you mean by "I agree with your first reaction"?
I guess you mean that in common s

Yoong LiatThe opposite of 'most' is 'least'.

Hi YL
That is true when you are creating the superlative form of adjectives (i.e. the most interesting / the least interesting).

However, in this case the word least modifies a noun, not an adjective.

TanitMay I ask you what you mean by "I agree with your first reaction"? I agree that the answer should be B (strictly speaking).
I guess you mean that in common speech "the least pages" would be more common, right? (Like "10 items or less"?). Right, it wouldn't surprise me to hear 'least' used that way sometimes

Thanks again, Amy.
That was really helpful.

Hi Tanit and Amy

The following is what I've found.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Booker diary: The verdict

Obviously, I picked the book with the least pages to begin with. ... The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites ...