less和fewer这一对最容易被搞错啦。
大多数中国学生知道简单原则:可数的用fewer,不可数的用less。比如: Less salt, please. / There are fewer cars on the road today.
然而,这个原则并不总是正确。碰到时间、金钱、距离和重量,可数的也用less!
I can finish the article in less than 4 hours. (不是fewer!)
We have less than 1,000 dollars in the bank. (不是fewer!)
We’re less than 50 miles away from the Disneyworld. (不是fewer!)
She will not stop until she weighs less than 45 kilograms. (不是fewer!)
还有一种特例,就是可数名词的单数。比如:example可数,也不属于时间、金钱、距离和重量的范畴,按常理应该是用fewer。在“I'd like to see ( )ridiculous examples.”这样的句子里,确实是用fewer。但是如果搭配了单数,就用less了。
换句话说,one less example是对的,one fewer example反而是错的。
最后,还有一种没有定论的情形。去国外逛超市,可以看到快速通道都有这样的标语:** Items or Less (少于**件商品的走这道)。
不少词典说应该用fewer,也有不少词典说less可以接受。有一部电影就叫10 Items or Less,还是Morgan Freeman主演的。
可是,sticklers总是不买账,不厌其烦地纠正:
语法虽然重要,但既然没有定论,还是不要浪费时间去纠结了。碰到买东西这种情形,你爱用fewer就fewer,爱用less就less。怎么顺口怎么来。
引用一下著名的Grammar Girl的金玉良言:What I ask is that the next time you see a sign that reads 10 Items or Less, instead of getting upset about the sign, recognize that this isn’t a black-and-white issue and save your anger for something about which we can all agree: the people who go through that line with 40 items should be stopped.
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