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ESL forum >
Ask for help > less or fewer
less or fewer
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ngthsang
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less or fewer
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Please help me with these 2 phrases.
"In less than 4 days, he will come."
Or
"In fewer than 4 days,......"
DO we use "less" or "fewer"?
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15 Jun 2011
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perma
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We use "less" but it refers to the time that �s going to pass, not the days. Time is uncountable, that �s why "less" is correct. |
15 Jun 2011
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GIOVANNI
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We use less. Less is used to with uncountable nouns. It refers to a quantity that cannot be counted.- I am eating less meat now.
- He earns less money than I do.
- If you want to lose weight, eat less food.
Fewer refers to a number that can be counted. It is used with plural and countable nouns. - We caught fewer fish.
- There were fewer children in the class than expected.
- I have got fewer problems than I used to have.
In informal style, less is common before plural nouns and uncountables. - There were less children in the class than expected.
- I have got less problems than I used to have.
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15 Jun 2011
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ngthsang
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Thanks a lot for your help. "less" refers to the time, not the days. I misunderstood it.
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15 Jun 2011
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ALLANPACHECO
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Is it correct if I say: We worked fewer days last week than this week.
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15 Jun 2011
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yanogator
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Yes, since the countable "days" is what you are referring to, you need "fewer".
"less" with uncountable
"fewer" with countable, although it is becoming more common for "fewer" not to be used.
Bruce, the mathematician |
15 Jun 2011
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thedropper
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I believe "less" is the correct answer. Less is used with measurements of time and distance.
"He ran less than 4 miles".
Even though miles is countable we use less.
"Their marraige lasted less than 5 years." etc.
Less is used with uncountable nouns when we are not using time or distance.
Fewer is used with plural nouns. |
16 Jun 2011
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Apodo
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You might like this link:
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16 Jun 2011
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