2.205 USAGE NOTE

'Any of' can refer to one or several people or things, or to part of something. Note that if it is the subject of a verb, when it refers several things, the verb is plural, and when it refers to a part of something, the verb is singular.

• She has those coats. She might have been wearing any of them.
• Hardly any of these find their way into consumer products.
• Has any of this been helpful ?
• It was more expensive than any of the other magazines we were normally able to afford.

2.206

There are three comparative quantifiers, which can be used before noun groups. 'Less of' is usually used with singular noun groups and uncount noun groups, 'fewer of' is usually used with plural noun groups, and 'more of' is used with all three types of noun group.

• I enjoy cooking far more now, because I do less of it.
• Fewer of these children will become bored.
• He was far more of an existentialist.

Note that 'more of' is sometimes used in front of a noun group to intensify it.

• He could hardly have felt more of a fool than he did at that moment.
• She was more of a flirt than ever.
• America is much more of a classless society.

Note also that 'less of' is sometimes used instead of 'fewer of', but many people think that this is not correct.