Hi, in today’s lesson you are going to learn when to use fewer and when to use less.
We use both less and fewer as quantifiers to talk about quantities, amounts and degree.
Less and fewer are comparative words. So, you use them when you are comparing things.
Less is the comparative form of little. Fewer is the comparative form of few.
So, how do you know which word to use?
Well, we usually use less with uncountable nouns.
Whereas, we use fewer with plural countable nouns:
for example:
I do less work at weekends than I used to.
Here work is an uncountable noun so we use less.
Whereas you would say:
Better cycle routes would mean fewer cars and fewer accidents.
Cars and accidents are both plural countable nouns and so we would use fewer.
Let’s look at some more examples.
The child was told to eat fewer cookies.
Cookies are plural countable nouns so we use fewer.
Can I have less milk next time?
Milk is an uncountable noun so we use less.
We can use fewer of and less of before determiners
For example: There are fewer of those small shops now.
or I’d like to spend less of my time in meetings.
and we can use them before pronouns.
So, you could say,
The swallows are back, but there are fewer of them than last year.
or
Salt isn’t good for you. Eat less of it!
OK, so now it’s your turn. Fill in the gaps with fewer or less.
One,
I’ve been trying to eat... snacks and …. junk food as part of my diet.
fewer snacks, and less junk food.
Snacks are countable, plural nouns so we use fewer
and junk food is an uncountable noun so we use less.
Two.
Sarah has been drinking ….... water than she should on this hot day.
less water.
Water is an uncountable noun so we use less.
Three.
Rolf makes …... grammatical mistakes than he used to when speaking English.
fewer grammatical mistakes
again, a plural countable noun so we use fewer.
Four.
My new furniture now leaves me with ….... space for my workouts at home.
less space
Space is an uncountable noun so we use less.
Five.
As the days passed, the flower had ......... petals left on it.
You know what to do!
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