Today I heard an ad on the radio for a private school. The ad features two adults interacting. One adult thanks the other for being willing to edit her newsletter. At one point, the adult asks "Is is fewer or less words?" She calls out to her 3rd grade daughter who replies "fewer is used with things you can count and less is used with things you can't". The second adult lauds the fact that this little girl knows so much at such a young age. The ad continues by stating that this private school has kids reading at 3 and loving it.
But my question, to this 3rd grade girl, is which is it? Is it fewer or less words? I appreciate that this 3rd grader has memorized a line about fewer and less that she repeated when she heard those two key words, but can she really answer the question? Can she apply this rote information and actually answer the question?
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