Grammar Bytes! The Writer's Guide To Grammar

Confusing Comparatives

  A comparative adjective is an adjective that draws a comparison between two or more things, such as less, fewer, more, most, least, farther, further, better, or worse.

  In most cases, it's easy to tell what comparative you should use. For instance, you might describe your favorite activity as the one you most enjoy. Conversely, an activity that's not pleasant to you at all would be described as the one you least enjoy.

  Those are easy. However, I want to pay special attention to the four comparatives that are most confusing:
Less, fewer, farther, and further.

  They may seem interchangable, but in fact they aren't and there are very specific rules that apply to the use of them.

  While less and fewer mean essentially the same thing, they have quite separate contexts. It all depends on whether something is a quantifiable amount-- that is, an amount that can be directly measured-- or whether something is an abstract amount, which cannot be directly measured.

  To explain, a bunch of apples is a quantifiable amount because you can count how many apples there are. If you have ten apples and you take away four, you now have fewer apples than before. The same applies with any observable object, person, or animal. You don't have more or less friends. You have more or fewer.

  An abstract amount, on the other hand, is anything that cannot be materially measured-- such as an emotion or a concept. And as we know, a concept is anything that exists purely in thought or discussion and has no material presence-- much like dissent within a crowd, or the consistency of fog, or the volume of heat.

  So while you can have more than one apple, or more than one friend, you cannot have more than one heat. Heat simply is. Dissent in a crowd simply is. So you would say, "There was a lot less dissent in the crowd after the politician explained his motivations." Or, "There's a lot less fog than there was yesterday."

  So on that point, remember this: If you can count how many or how few, use "fewer." If you cannot, use "less."

  A similar rule applies to the uses of farther and further. Farther should be used only for comparing real, measurable distances. Example:

  It is farther to New York from Texas than it is to Oklahoma.

  The gas station was just a little farther down the road.

  He skipped his stone farther across the lake than anyone else.

  The same applies to farthest.

  His was the farthest throw in the competition.

  Further, on the other hand, should be used when describing conceptual distance, like the progress you might make in therapy.

  He had come further in the program than anyone, and would soon graduate.

  His plans steadily moved further toward completion.

  Why is this important? Why bother with nitpicking distinctions like that, you might ask? One word: Meaning.
Farther and further, just like less and fewer, do not have quite the same meaning, though they have the same basic function. Making distinctions between them is important in effective communication because otherwise both words lose their meaning and it is a lot more difficult to convey your point.

  If used arbitrarily and interchangably, readers will quickly become confused about what you are saying. Let me give an example of just such an erroneous passage, and see if it doesn't confuse you.

  The boy ran further and further ahead of his opponents, until he was farther ahead than any of them in the race. He had worked hard to condition himself for the race, and had come further than anyone.

  You can see why that would be confusing. Because without the distinction between farther and further, then the use of the two different words in different places has no meaning.

  So in conclusion to this chapter, remember the difference between quantifiable amounts and distances (able to be measured materially) and abstract amounts and distances (able to be measured only in concept).