this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2025
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I actually did see an example on Hexbear the other day where the fewer/less distinction did actually matter for getting the meaning across. Someone corrected it, which drew my attention to it.
Basically, if you're saying "fewer [plural noun]" or "less [plural noun]", even if the former should technically be a count noun and the latter a mass noun, it doesn't impact intelligibility. But if there's an intervening adjective, there can be ambiguity.
If you say "less competent people," the most straightforward interpretation is "[less competent] people", although with more flexible usage "less [competent people]" is also possible. If you say "fewer competent people" the only possible interpretation is "fewer [competent people]." Bit of an edge case, but it's something I'm gonna file away in my noggin.