Use 'Less' and 'Fewer' Correctly Worksheet

People often use the words less and fewer interchangeably, but they have slightly different meanings. Using the correct vocabulary makes your writing more sophisticated.

Do you know which of the following sentences are correct?

There were fewer people there than I expected.

There were less people there than I expected.

The first sentence is the correct one. People is a plural noun so we need to use the word 'fewer'. Another way of looking at it is to decide whether the noun can be counted or not. People can be counted, so the correct word is 'fewer'.

If something can't be counted or has no plural, then we use the word 'less'.

You should eat less salt. (We talk about salt as one thing rather than counting each individual grain.)

My sister has less free time now she is studying. ('Free time' has no plural.)

Over the course of this worksheet, we will practise choosing whether to use 'fewer' or 'less', in different sentences.

Choose the correct word that completes the sentence below.

Jake has _____ pocket money than Andrew.

Fewer

Less

Choose the correct word to complete the following sentence.

The doctor told my dad that he should smoke _____ cigarettes.

fewer

less

Choose the correct word to complete the following sentence.

There were _____ people at football training tonight because of the bad weather.

fewer

less

Choose the correct word to complete the sentence below

I am trying to eat _____ chocolate now so that I can lose some weight.

fewer

less

Choose the correct word to complete the sentence below.

Jodie ate _____ pieces of cake than Tommy.

fewer

less

Choose the correct word to complete the following sentence.

There are _____ bees in our gardens than there used to be.

fewer

less

Choose the correct word to complete the following sentence.

I am going to put _____ sugar in my tea from now on.

fewer

less

Choose the correct word to complete the following sentence.

Police figures show that _____ people are drinking and driving than 30 years ago.

fewer

less

Choose the correct word to complete the following sentence.

We should make _____ car journeys if we want to cut our carbon footprint.

fewer

less

Choose the correct word to complete the following sentence.

Our apple tree has _____ apples on it than last year.

fewer

less

ANSWERS

Question 1

Choose the correct word that completes the sentence below.

Jake has _____ pocket money than Andrew.

CORRECT ANSWER

Less

EDDIE SAYS

'Pocket money' has no plural therefore, the correct word is 'less'.

ANSWERS

Question 2

Choose the correct word to complete the following sentence.

The doctor told my dad that he should smoke _____ cigarettes.

CORRECT ANSWER

fewer

EDDIE SAYS

'Cigarettes' is a plural noun, therefore we need to use the word 'fewer'.

ANSWERS

Question 3

Choose the correct word to complete the following sentence.

There were _____ people at football training tonight because of the bad weather.

CORRECT ANSWER

fewer

EDDIE SAYS

'People' is a plural noun therefore, we need to use 'fewer'. Hopefully, these questions are second nature to you now!

ANSWERS

Question 4

Choose the correct word to complete the sentence below

I am trying to eat _____ chocolate now so that I can lose some weight.

CORRECT ANSWER

less

EDDIE SAYS

As we were talking about chocolate in general terms it cannot be counted. If we were talking about bars of chocolate then we'd use 'fewer bars of chocolate' as bars can be counted.

ANSWERS

Question 5

Choose the correct word to complete the sentence below.

Jodie ate _____ pieces of cake than Tommy.

CORRECT ANSWER

fewer

EDDIE SAYS

Pieces of cake can be counted, therefore we use 'fewer'.

ANSWERS

Question 6

Choose the correct word to complete the following sentence.

There are _____ bees in our gardens than there used to be.

CORRECT ANSWER

fewer

EDDIE SAYS

'Bees' is a plural noun and bees can be counted, so again we use 'fewer'!

ANSWERS

Question 7

Choose the correct word to complete the following sentence.

I am going to put _____ sugar in my tea from now on.

CORRECT ANSWER

less

EDDIE SAYS

'Sugar' is not a noun we can count. We think of it as one thing even though it is made up of separate grains.

ANSWERS

Question 8

Choose the correct word to complete the following sentence.

Police figures show that _____ people are drinking and driving than 30 years ago.

CORRECT ANSWER

fewer

EDDIE SAYS

'People' is a plural noun and people can be counted, so we use 'fewer'.

ANSWERS

Question 9

Choose the correct word to complete the following sentence.

We should make _____ car journeys if we want to cut our carbon footprint.

CORRECT ANSWER

fewer

EDDIE SAYS

'Journeys' is a plural noun. We can count journeys, so we use 'fewer' in this context. You're making great progress!

ANSWERS

Question 10

Choose the correct word to complete the following sentence.

Our apple tree has _____ apples on it than last year.

CORRECT ANSWER

fewer

EDDIE SAYS

'Apples' is a plural noun and apples can be counted, therefore we use 'fewer'. Great work, you've completed another activity! How about attempting another one so you feel super confident?