less和fewer使用辨析

老师您好！

(1) As a result, the vehicle produces fewer pollutants 还是应该是 less pollutant ?

(2) We should save more energy and use fewer 还是应该是 less natural resources ?

有道词典上看到以下例句：

Thus the better producers gain ever more economic influence, and the worse command ever fewer resources.

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What can BlackBerry do differently, with less money, less resources, and less time?

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以上2句，搞糊涂了，请教老师，谢谢！

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分类：限定词

最佳答案 2022-02-17 10:51

1 pollutant为可数名词，这里需要用复数名词，应该用fewer pollutants.

2 当与more相对而言时，表示更少的意义时，less可以用在复数名词前，这种用法属于非正式语体或习惯用法，用fewer则是正规用法，所以这个句子用less resources 和 fewer resources都是可以的。后者为正式语体。

关于less后接复数名词，the freedictionary有以下用法说明，可供参考：

usage: Many usage guides say that fewer should be used before plural nouns specifying individuals or distinguishable units: fewer words; no fewer than 31 of the 50 states. less, the guides maintain, should modify only singular mass nouns (less sugar; less money) and singular abstract nouns (less doubt; less power). It should modify plural nouns only when they suggest combination into a unit, group, or aggregation: less than $50 (a sum of money); less than three miles (a unit of distance). Standard English practice does not consistently reflect these distinctions. The use of less or less than where usage guides recommend fewer (than) is common in most varieties of English: less than eight million people; no less than 31 of the 50 states; We did more work with less people. Though these uses are often criticized, they appear to be increasing in frequency.

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曹荣禄 -

擅长：动词用法,句法问题 | 采纳率 82% | 回答于 2022-02-08 14:47

less和fewer使用辨析

最佳答案 2022-02-17 10:51

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