"Few" versus "A few" Plus Less than What?
In a series of posts Virtus will provide tips and advice covering many aspects of publishing. This series will be an ongoing selection of language tips, covering areas that many authors find difficult or confusing. These will be short and to the point.
Virtus Publishing Language Tip #14: “Few” versus “A few” Plus Less than What?
This is the type of error that comes up fairly often in text to be published, but even more often in both casual and business correspondence:
Few corrections were made in this chapter.
In the context in which this is generally used, the writer usually means that “a few” corrections were made (which usually means about three).
However, if interpreted literally it’s a subjective opinion, meaning “not many.”
Let’s look at another example:
Few employees will report today.
This means not many will report today.
A few employees will report today.
This means approximately three will report today.
This is an instance where whether or not you include the indefinite article “a” directly impacts the meaning of the sentence.
(And BTW: this is something that, as of now, AI isn’t equipped to handle, because it cannot comprehend or interpret context.)
Let’s look at another two examples, using two sentences that have different meanings.
Few lilies were in the pond.
This means that were weren’t many lilies: In order to say this with any real authority we’d need to know how many lilies there usually are.
A few lilies were in the pond.
This means there were about three lilies in the pond.
I have seen many instances where people have used the first construction when they actually mean the second. The distinction is very important.
“Less” than What?
Another error that I see too often concerns the incorrect use of “less.”
This usually comes up in the context of emails or conversation when someone will say something this like
This job is easy to complete because the requirement is less.
My immediate reaction is ‘less’ than what?”
As written in English, this sentence is grammatically incorrect: ending the sentence with “less” makes it unclear and incomplete. One of the problems is that in other languages, ending with the equivalent of “less” can at times be acceptable.
I would also take issue with “the requirement is.” I would use make “requirement” plural and use “are.”
What is actually intended is something like this
This job is easy to complete because the requirements are less complex.
This job is easy to complete because the requirements are less stringent.
This job is easy to complete because the requirements are less difficult.
This “less” gaffe is a not-so-distant cousin of what’s discussed regarding “few” above, which is why I’ve posted them together.
Keep these distinctions and examples in mind when using these words (as an author) or making any changes related to these words (as an editor).
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