Confusing Words Clarified: Group F; Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, Synonyms, Polysemes, etc. +

Craig muttered, "Phew! Even though I had only a few pages to read to finish the book, it seemed to take me forever."

Although too many writers and speakers use these words incorrectly, everyone should realize that fewer should refer only to countable numbers or things or to units capable of being counted; as in "The less money there is available, the fewer hamburgers and potato drinks people can buy."

Few means not many; little means not much. Fewer means smaller in number; less means smaller in amount, as in "People have fewer legs than a centipede, but a centipede has less intelligence."

Possibly "a doubtful proposition" according to Willard Espy.

If you are still not convinced, then consider the following: Although colloquial English is often different, standard written English uses fewer with things that can be counted and less with things that cannot be counted; for example, fewer people, but less money. It is unacceptable to write less students or less players.

Also, don't write fewer than six weeks because the expression "six weeks" refers to a single period of time, and not a collection of six individual objects; therefore, the required wording is less than six weeks.

In times of economic restraint, there are fewer people investing less of their hard-earned wages when they go out for a coffee. George always asks for less sugar in his coffee than usual so he will gain fewer pounds.

My fiancé, who works in the finance sector of the economy, introduced me to his family as his fiancée.

Fred was not a fibber when he told Leann that a diet high in fiber would be good for her. In fact, he wrote out the information on a piece of paper that was made of natural fiber.

Greta was fiddling around in the attic when she discovered the fiddle her uncle used to play.

She had fond memories of the fiddling concerts in the kitchen when she was growing up in Newfoundland; but now, many people think that kitchen concerts are of piddling consideration.

The police said the fiend who was preying on youth in the park often met them by pretending to be their friend. In fact, the fiend was a fiend for skateboarding.

After the dentist put a filling in Mike's tooth, she wrote up the report and gave it to the clerk for filing.

The clerk said he would complete the filing the following day because he was late filing his income tax forms, explaining that he had difficulty filling in the questionnaire.

When you fill in the questionnaire, be sure to mark as nil the question about the number of cats in your household. That should fill the appetite of the statisticians for trivia.

Selma and her friends attended a finely executed dance recital at the end of which the dancers performed, as their final number, the grand finale from a famous ballet before it was finally time for the curtain to come down.

The prosecutor was determined to find the man guilty of speeding and the judge fined the man and suspended his driving license for two months.

The fineness of Leila's training was amply demonstrated by the finesse with which she managed the job interview after which she was offered a high-paying position in the law firm.

Is it possible to have a Scandinavian ending or a Finish finish at the winter sports this year?

When the fir is covered with fluffy snow, it looks like it is wearing a coat of white fur.

Ms. Brown was the first lady of the violin and often gave concerts hosted by the first lady of her government and attended by the First Lady, wife of the President of the United States.

Because of the fiscal restraints at this budget time, investment in programs for the physical well-being of people may not happen.