Q: In a recent television commercial, someone said, “I am not afraid of companies bigger than us.” My mother said that it should have been “bigger than we,” with the verb “are” implied. This was my gut reaction, too. Please let me know what you think. — Justin, West Hartford, Connecticut.
A: Justin, trust your gut — and your mom. The phrase “bigger than we” would be correct because this sentence is really a truncated version of a longer sentence: “I am not afraid of companies bigger than we (are).”
Sentences such as this cause confusion because “than” can be used as either a conjunction, which is followed by a pronoun in the nominative case (I/we/they), or as a preposition, which is followed by a pronoun in the objective case (me/us/them).
You can usually determine whether “than” is being used as a conjunction or a preposition by filling in the missing words in the sentence. For instance, “Jane likes spinach more than I” really means Jane likes spinach more than I (do). But “Jane likes spinach more than me” really means Jane likes spinach more than (she likes) me.
As you can see, the pronoun you place after “than” can make a big difference in meaning. To avoid confusion, add the implied word or phrase to make your meaning clear.
Q: Which is correct? “There is one fewer apple in the basket” or “There is one less apple in the basket.” — Bill Johnson, St. Paul, Minnesota.
A: I love this question, not only because I get to discuss my favorite fruit, but also because it exemplifies the danger of obsessive adherence to grammatical rules.
The phrase “one fewer apple” is an attempt to follow the established usage dictum that “fewer” must always be used with countable items (“fewer apples”) and that “less” must only be used with big batches of uncountable items (“less fruit”).
But there’s one big problem: “There is one fewer apple” sounds funny.
Thus, while technically the sentence “There is one less apple in the basket” violates the standard rule regarding “fewer” and “less,” it sounds much more natural than “one fewer apple.” “One less apple” is what grammarians call an “idiom” — an expression that violates traditional grammar or usage but is nonetheless Standard English.
Let’s say you stole an apple from your grandmother’s basket as she was putting them in glass containers to preserve them. If you were to confess by saying, “There’s one fewer apple in your basket,” both your sentence — and your grandmother — would be jarring.
Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. His new book, “Mark My Words,” is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to [email protected] or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.
