Re: less / few

Clive — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 17:39:27 GMT

Hi Mara,

"In my old job, I used to work less hours than now."

I know that in spoken English, less + a countable noun is of widespread use. True. But, is few / fewer a better option in this case, for "hours" is a countable noun? Well, do you want to follow widespread use or do you want to pass a grammar exam? In othe words, what do you mean by 'better'? Which of the two (few / fewer) is best? Because you are comparing, you can't say 'few'. You have to say 'fewer'

" I have to make a few sentences using new words such as although, because, but, in addition, and so on."

Is the sentence correct? Yes, but I'd omit the comma after addition. Is the meaning of "a few" here equivalent to "some"? No, 'few' stresses 'not a lot'.

As regards "and so on", I would advise to avoid this kind of generalizations when writing a composition or a letter of any kind, what do you think? in an informal letter, write what you want. Otherwise, this is good advice.

Best wishes, Clive

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Re: less / few