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Ls 30. More / less, fewer

Lesson 30. More / less, fewer

When increasing the quantity of a noun, use the word "more"

He wants more opportunities to go to the beach

He needs more water

When decreasing the quantity of a noun, choose between the words "less" or "fewer", depending on the type of noun it is. In this case, you need to consider if a noun is a count noun or a non-count noun.

He has fewer opportunities to go to the beach these days because he's so busy The word "opportunities" is a count noun.

He should drink less lemonade. He might get sick. The word "lemonade" is a non-count noun

Using "more" is fairly easy because you can use "more" with both count nouns and non-count nouns: Let's get some more food (The word "food" is a non-count noun) I want to read more books this year (The word "book" is a count noun)

Choosing between "less" and "fewer" is not as easy. You really have to pay attention to the type of noun you are describing.

I'm trying to eat less food in order to lose weight The students have fewer books to read this semester

Generally, words that end in an "s" are plural count nouns. Words that don't end in "s" but are considered plural are non-count nouns