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For example in a résumé, are

Experience in a couple of rendering tools

and

Experience in some rendering tools

the same from the point of view of formality?

tchrist
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    Some is suitable for any context; a couple, when it simply signifies a few, is too informal, and possibly inaccurate, because it can be interpreted literally as a minimum requirement of no more than two. A few is better and less informal. – John Lawler Apr 17 '13 at 14:31
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    In formal language, a couple refers to -exactly- two items. Informally is where the number can get slippery. – Mitch Apr 17 '13 at 15:14
  • To me, "a couple" sounds informal even when it means exactly "two." I'd use the noun "couple" in formal writing only to mean two people who are paired together. –  Apr 17 '13 at 15:41
  • Ok, I'll use some then. –  Apr 17 '13 at 15:58
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    Pretty please stop using backticked monospace on ELU. – tchrist Apr 17 '13 at 18:29
  • You might care to have a look at this related question. – Brian Hooper Apr 17 '13 at 22:48
  • I'm wondering whether "Experience in ..." ought to be "Experienced in ...", or "Experience of ...". I'd prefer the former. Also, if there are only two then why not name them? – David Aldridge Apr 18 '13 at 19:44
  • @DavidAldridge I haven't said there are only two. They may be 4, 5, 6...this is just an example. –  Apr 18 '13 at 21:48
  • @yzT If there are 4, 5, or more then I'd certainly not say "a couple" then. – David Aldridge Apr 18 '13 at 21:58

1 Answers1

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I would suggest neither are correct in formal writing. As commentors have already pointed out, in this instance 'a couple' would refer to literally two items. However, 'some' also feels clumsy to me in that sentence.

I would suggest using one of the following in a formal document, such as a resume:

Experience in a number of rendering tools.

Experience with various rendering tools.

Experience in numerous rendering tools.

Experience in a multitude of rendering tools.

I have ordered these in roughly ascending order of number, with "a number of" being the least, and "a multitude of" being the most, depending on how many tools you wish to express your experience with.

I might also suggest changing the word "in" to "with" in any of these sentences.

Community
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Patrick Quinn
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