Antonym of "too much"

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Southerncross

#367709 Sat, 19 May 07 11:57 PM

Hello everyone,

I've come across the expression "too less" for several times now, always used by fellow non-native speakers of English.
It sounds pretty weired to me, but after all, google still finds 580'000 matches. So is it something often confused or am I wrong in believing "too little" or "too few" respctively are much more appropriate?

Thanks for your help

Southerncross

Joined on Sat, May 19 2007

Switzerland

New Member (02)

Antonyms, Expressions

Grammar Geek

#367713 Sun, 20 May 07 12:03 AM

I googled too, because I wanted to see the usuage, and I got only 158,000, but still, that's far too many to be believed! But compared to 2.5 million for "too few" and 4.2 million for "too little," it's not very many.

You are right - too little (noncount nouns) or too few (count nouns) is correct, and throw "too less" into the rubbish heap.

Grammar Geek

Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006

Pennsylvania, USA

Veteran Member (15,595)

Barbara, who answers in American English.

Antonyms, Nouns

Yankee

#367720 Sun, 20 May 07 12:08 AM

Hi Southerncross

"Too less" is an extremely typical non-native speaker mistake. Don't forget that there is a lot of English on the Internet which was written by non-native speakers of English.

I would be very surprised to hear a native speaker of English make that same mistake. Native speakers do make mistakes, but "too less" is not the type of mistake a native speaker of English would typically make.

Yankee

Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006

Connecticut, USA

Senior Member (4,157)

Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain

Antonyms

Southerncross

#367726 Sun, 20 May 07 12:15 AM

Thank you, Grammar Geek,

Of course you are right with 158'000, I got the same result, but must have mixed up some numbers when writing.
But the bottom line remains the same nevertheless.

Southerncross

Antonyms, Grammar, Numbers