Editing Mass noun (section)

==Quantification==
Some [[Quantifier (linguistics)|quantifiers]] are specific to mass nouns (e.g., ''an amount of'') or count nouns (e.g., ''a number of'', ''every''). Others can be used with both types (e.g., ''a lot of'', ''some'').

===Words ''fewer'' and ''less''===
{{main|Fewer versus less}}
Where ''much'' and ''little'' qualify mass nouns, ''many'' and ''few'' have an analogous function for count nouns:
* How much damage? —Very little.
* How many mistakes? —Very few.

Whereas ''more'' and ''most'' are the [[comparative]] and [[superlative]] of both ''much'' and ''many'', ''few'' and ''little'' have differing comparative and superlative (''fewer'', ''fewest'' and ''less'', ''least'').  However, [[suppletion|suppletive]] use of ''less'' and ''least'' with count nouns is common in many contexts, some of which attract criticism as [[nonstandard dialect|nonstandard]] or low-[[prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestige]].<ref name="mwdeu-less-fewer">{{cite book|title=Merriam-Webster's dictionary of English usage |publisher=Merriam-Webster |year=1995 |edition=2nd |page=592 |chapter=less, fewer|isbn=0-87779-132-5 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2yJusP0vrdgC&pg=PA592}}</ref> This criticism dates back to at least 1770; the usage dates back to [[Old English]].<ref name="mwdeu-less-fewer"/> In 2008, [[Tesco]] changed supermarket [[Point of sale|checkout]] signs reading "ten items or less" after complaints that it was bad grammar; at the suggestion of the [[Plain English Campaign]] it switched to "up to ten items" rather than to "ten items or fewer".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2659948/Tesco-to-ditch-ten-items-or-less-sign-after-good-grammar-campaign.html |url-access=registration |title=Tesco to ditch 'ten items or less' sign after good grammar campaign |access-date=16 April 2010 |first=Tom |last=Peterkin |work=Daily Telegraph |date=1 September 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605110943/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2659948/Tesco-to-ditch-ten-items-or-less-sign-after-good-grammar-campaign.html |archive-date= Jun 5, 2010 }}</ref>