Why need to use " for operators in lookup, statistical and power functions if not referencing text

NattyBer  wrote:  ``Why does =COUNTIFS(H:H,>9) not work?``

Because the internal implementation of COUNTIFS is interpreting the conditional expression ">9", not the Excel formula-level evaluation.

The equivalent formula-level expression would be written COUNTIFS(H:H>9) -- one parameter, no comma separator.  Why wasn't COUNTIFS designed like that?  Only MSFT knows.

Off-hand, I could wild-guess some reasons that might apply to the "...IFS" functions (with "S") per se.  But remember:  this all began with "...IF" functions (without "S") many decades again.  The modern "...IFS" syntax might be chosen simply for consistency.

But that begs the question:  why not COUNTIF(H:H>9) many decades ago?  Again, only MSFT knows. 

And again, I could wild-guess some reasons that might apply decades ago, albeit perhaps not so much today.  But my opinion is worth the paper it's written on.  (None!  wink)

As we used to say in UNIX development:  "never ask why".  It is what it is.