Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we’re saving the English language sixty seconds at a time! I’m Lauren Smyth, and there’s a sign at many grocery store checkout lines that is just appalling grammar. Have you ever been to a self-checkout that says “ten items or less?” Yup. That’s the sign.
If you’re a long-time listener of this podcast, you already know what I’m about to say. It should be ten items or fewer. Here’s your almost monthly reminder that “fewer” is used for countable items, including, well, items—and “less” is used for uncountable things, like espresso or grains of wheat.
This means you can say “fewer kernels of wheat” but “less wheat.” There’s another interesting exception, which is time. You have “less time” but “fewer times,” depending on how you’re using the word. Time kind of seems like something that should be countable, but it’s a continuum not divided into discrete parts, so grammar treats it as uncountable.
Here’s a tough edge case scenario: Is it “fewer than twenty minutes left” or “less than twenty minutes left?”
I have no idea. Good luck.
That’s your Grammar Minute! Visit thegrammarminute.com for more tips and tricks.