Macmillan Holdings, LLC. Grammar Girl, Grammar Girl's, QDnow, and Quick and Dirty Tips are all trademarks of Macmillan Holdings, LLC. Which one can you use before a number? Kent grammar My journalism teachers and several crotchety old editors taught me the following: "Over" is spatial: The cow jumped over the moon. "More than" relates to quantity: More than 20 cows jumped over the moon. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=19787#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=19787#Comments Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:59:28 GMT Jeff grammar When selecting from two choices, it's whichever option sounds "better", not "best". http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=15877#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=15877#Comments Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:48:27 GMT Stephanie grammar Both of my copies of the AP Stylebook (2005 and '08) state the case for "over" and "more than" as follows: "Over – It generally refers to spatial relationships: The place flew over the city. More than is preferred with numerals: Their salaries went up more than $20 a week." I'm not entirely sure which AP Stylebook you're reading that prompts a writer to choose which phrase sounds better in their sentence. As a journalist, I've been raised on AP Style, and I cringe every time someone says or writes something like, "I've worked here for over 10 years." http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=15159#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=15159#Comments Thu, 11 Dec 2008 20:51:05 GMT mike thomas grammar that should be 'there IS more than one book'...! http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=14432#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=14432#Comments Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:43:39 GMT Adam grammar There is a simple reason why you use 'more than' rather than 'over' - over can refer to a periods of time and distance, and creates unnecessary confusion. Two examples where using 'over' creates confusion: "Charles drove over 200 miles to get to Susan." So did Charles drive across 200 miles, or did he drive MORE THAN 200 miles? Another example: "The DNC announced that this year's convention would, for the first time, last over five days." So is the DNC saying that the convention will last over the course of five days, or is it saying it will last MORE THAN five days? This is why one uses 'more than', rather than 'over'. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=13756#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=13756#Comments Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:11:57 GMT Grammar Girl's Assistant grammar Thank you, R. Hannigan. We've fixed the typo. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=12809#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=12809#Comments Thu, 29 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT R Hannigan grammar "I've already got next weeks' show written..." Shouldn't this be "next week's show?" How many weeks are there? My reality might be shattered if GG has made an apostrophe error... or is this a test to see if we're really paying attention? ;) http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=12609#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=12609#Comments Thu, 15 May 2008 22:55:39 GMT John grammar Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage: "Over in the sense of "more than" has been used in English since the 14th century... There is no reason why you need to avoid this usage." The fact that people like Jeremy can identify when a use of "over" should be "more than" shows that there is no confusion over using one instead of the other. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=12605#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=12605#Comments Thu, 15 May 2008 15:02:21 GMT Linda grammar You rock! This site is very helpful and I'm so glad I found it! I have a request. Can you give a review about using articles (a, the, and when to not use an article)? Thanks! http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=12599#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=12599#Comments Wed, 14 May 2008 21:28:08 GMT Jeremy Bante grammar As both a math major and a former copy editor at my college's student newspaper, I think I can clarify the difference between "over" and "more than." "Over" specifies a spacial relationship: something on top of something else. "More than" specifies only a quantitative relationship: more of one than the other. The problem with using "over" instead of "more than" in most cases is that "over" implies a spacial relationship that doesn't apply to what we're talking about. For example: I have over a dozen eggs in my refrigerator. My eggs aren't above anything just because I have 13 of them — I could've put them at the bottom of the refrigerator — so those of us with a sharp eye for grammar pause when we read that. It's passable because we've learned to associate bigger numbers with spatially high things, like taller bars and higher points on charts. The rule I use to distinguish between when "over" or "more than" is appropriate is the same I use for "less/fewer than" (respectively). When talking about things described only in discrete units — that is, when you can't break them up into fractional parts — I only use (or allow to be used) "more/fewer than." So I would have to say that I have *more than* a dozen eggs in the refrigerator. Conversely, I use "over" and "less than" when talking about stuff with continuous units — that we can break down into any fractional piece we want. For example, we can break large sums of money down into practically continuous hundredths of a dollar, so talking about my *over*-$50k college loan debt is dandy. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=12598#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx ?commentid=12598#Comments Wed, 14 May 2008 18:43:36 GMT Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:59:28 GMT http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/more-than-versus-over.aspx feedback@quickanddirtytips.com (Managing Editor) feedback@quickanddirtytips.com (Webmaster) en-us