By ROBERT PINGREE
For the Insider
The Insider provided nothing to comment on last week, but not so the Monitor, and since Mother's Day is impending and the error involves my mother-in-law's pet grammatical peeve, I must call your attention to a photo caption about avalanche scouts in Tuckerman Ravine: “Depending on the amount of visitors, Lane will visit with skiers and riders to inform them of conditions and answer questions.”
Amount refers to quantity, and number – well, that refers to number. You may have an amount of money available in an emergency fund, which means that it should consist of a number of dollars sufficient to get you through a few months. Losing a certain amount of weight will involve shedding a number of pounds. The amount of criticism the Grammarnator levies will depend on the number of errors he finds.
The distinction is the same as that for less and fewer. If you can count the entity one by one (dollars, months, errors), put fewer in front of the noun. If it's all in a lump, less is called for. The supermarket is correct when its sign requires “14 items or fewer” at the fast checkout lane.
Following the principle above, Ranger Lane of the U. F. Forest Service would be more or less busy “depending on the number of visitors.” And depending on the number of mothers who are honored next Sunday, it may well turn out to be Mothers' Day.
