Hey there! This is TOP episode 261. Less or Fewer?
Are you tired of lacking confidence when speaking English? Does it block you from achieving your true goals? This podcast is the place for you. This is Teacher Ola Podcast. My name’s Ola Mierniczak and I empower English learners to become confident speakers. The key to fluency is in your pocket. You’ll boost your vocabulary, brush up your grammar and improve your pronunciation. Enjoy your journey to fluency!
Hey there! Thank you for dropping by! Tell me, which sentence is correct. Listen carefully, don’t multitask, stay focused. Here comes:
One: An ageing population means that there are less working people.
Two: An ageing population means that there are fewer working people.
That is the question! The correct sentence is the second one:
An ageing population means that there are fewer working people.
Why is that? That’s the topic of our class today’s class.
But first let me remind you!! You’re invited to a live training, live webinar with me. For two days I’ll be teaching you how to improve your English despite your short-lived enthusiasm and lack of time. Two days training for zero money, absolutely free. Sign up now: teacherola.com/webinar. 22 and 23 September. Sunday and Monday 8 pm. Let’s do it, let’s GO! Tacherola.com/webinar. And hey, I think you should know that 22 September is the day when I open the SIOL course for the 6th time. Say It Out Loud is my Online English course, program, holistic approach to learning everything you need to speak English fluently. grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary and speaking and soo much more. Visit siol.pl to learn more. But above all sign up for my free training at teacherola.com/webinar. And now: less or fewer?
“Imagine this… You’re in a shop, buying snacks for a movie night with friends. You’re standing there, looking at bags of chips, and you see two options. One bag says: ‘30% less fat’ and the other says: ‘Fewer chips in the bag.’ But wait… what’s the difference between ‘less’ and ‘fewer’? Let me tell you!” What? No brand would caption the product ‘fewer chips in the bag’. No way BUt that silly example can and will be very helpful for you because it will get stuck inside your head. See what I’m doing here? Creating silly, crazy or relatable examples helps you, it makes you memorise better.
Now. Let’s get down to business. What is the difference between ‘less’ and ‘fewer’? Maybe you already know the difference, in theory at least. But you still make that mistake. And that’s ok, because this kind of mistake doesn’t block communication. You can still get your message across, in other words, you can still make people understand you. Yet, if you’re here to develop yourself, improve your skill and above all feel more confident, ahh! I’m here for you today! Nothing boosts your confidence more than good grammar. I mean, there’s also pronunciation and strong collocations but, having said that, please bear in mind: grammar is your friend and it boosts your confidence. Especially if you’re on this B1 plateau as they call it. Grammar can be and often is that missing puzzle. Do you know what I mean? You know theory, you know words, you do tests well but somehow you can’t express yourself fully, you can’t express yourself in the same way you would in Polish, in your mother tongue. Grammar. It’s grammar. But today we’re fixing that. You can’t fix all your grammar in one evening I’m afraid, yet you can and you should do small steps. So today we’re doing that small step. And stay with me till the end when we’ll be practising speaking English with proper use of ‘fewer’ and ‘less’. Let’s go!
It’s not extremely difficult, it’s just a matter of practice, ok? Listen:
“Fewer” is for things you can count (like apples, people, or bags of chips).
“Less” is for things you can’t count (like time, water, or fat).
Imagine you have a big bag of jelly beans.
If you take out five jelly beans, you have fewer jelly beans inside the bag. Why? Because you can count how many there are.
Now, that bag has less sugar after you took out 5 of the pieces. Right? You can’t count sugar. So we use ‘less’.
There are fewer jelly beans in the bag.
There’s less sugar in the bag.
Let’s play a little game. I’ll say something, and you guess if it’s less or fewer! Ok? Let’s try!
Cars on the street. (Fewer)
Water in the glass. (Less)
Friends at the party. (Fewer)
Money in your pocket. (Less)
Slices of pizza. (Fewer)
Now, listen to this. In informal spoken English, many people use ‘less’ before a plural noun. This is fine in spoken English, for instance: less people. But! That is an error and if you put that into your writing it will look bad. If you use less with plural nouns on your exam it will be marked as incorrect. So no worries, in spoken English you will be understood.
One more thing. The opposite of ‘less’ and the opposite of ‘fewer’ is the same and it’s ‘more’. More people, more time, more lessons, more knowledge.
And one more thing! Ha ha. The opposite of the most is the least, ok? Listen to these examples:
The most common form of communication today is through smartphones and social media.
The least common fruit in the market is dragon fruit.
Ok! Time to practise! Now I’m going to say ten example sentences once and I want you to repeat them out loud. These exact sentences will come back to you in the Worksheet. Please download that free handout at teacherola.com/261 unless you are a member of TOPeople, that is my newsletter. In that case the Worksheet is already in your inbox. Do it, but first – the speaking practice. Let’s go! Repeat after me:
There are fewer people at the concert this year.
I ate fewer fries because I’m on a diet.
He has fewer video games than when he was younger.
You should spend fewer hours on TikTok!
I have fewer days left to study for my exams.
I drank less soda than I did last week.
She has less time to relax because of her kids’ school.
Can you make the music a bit less loud?
There’s less drama when you just stay out of it.
I have less stress now that the project’s over.
Here you have it! The difference between ‘less’ and ‘fewer’ explained and practised. But that is not enough! Now you need practice some more! Go and grab your copy of the Worksheet got to teacherola.com/261.
If you like learning English here with me, let me know! The best way to help me is by sharing this podcast with someone who needs it. Thank you so much! Don’t forget to like and subscribe! And don’t forget to sign up for my free training! Sign up now teacherola.com/webinar. See you on Sunday! This Sunday! 22 and Monday 23 of September. It’s a two-day training and I’m gonna teach you how to learn English if you have limited time and if your energy drops sometimes. Teacherola.com/webinar.
I love you, I believe in you, I know you can be fluent in English if you really want it. I’ll be back next week. Stay fearless, say it out loud and take care! I’m your teacher, Teacher Ola, and you were listening to Teacher Ola Podcast. Bye for now.