Which sentence uses the underlined word correctly?<\/p>\n
A: It seems as if there are\u00a0less<\/u>\u00a0children on the class trip than we originally planned.<\/p>\n
B: Less<\/u>\u00a0people go to the movies since it is more affordable to watch movies at home.<\/p>\n
C: I want to put\u00a0less<\/u>\u00a0sugar in my tea because I eat too much of it throughout the day.<\/p>\n
D: There are\u00a0less<\/u>\u00a0strays living behind my house since our new dog scared them all away.<\/p>\n
Answer: C: I want to put\u00a0less<\/u>\u00a0sugar in my tea because I eat too much of it throughout the day.<\/p>\n
In option C however, the word \u201cless\u201d is correctly used because \u201c sugar\u201d is an uncountable noun. Uncountable nouns are those you cannot count because you cannot put them in groups like you do for countable nouns. Other examples of uncountable nouns are; wa\u00acter, air, money, time and so on. On the other hand, the word \u201cfewer\u201d should be used with countable things which are the things that can be counted individually. The remaining sentences in this question employ \u2018less\u2019 inappropriately when it should be replaced by \u2018fewer\u2019. For instance, in sentence A, “children” is a countable noun, so it should be “fewer children. ” Similarly, in sentences B and D, “people” and “strays” are countable nouns, respectively, so these sentences should use “fewer” instead of “less. ” To illustrate the correct usage further, consider these examples: \u2018I have less patience today\u2019 is an example of the use of the less\/fewer for an uncountable noun, while the saying \u2018I have fewer apples in my basket\u2019 is an example where less\/fewer is used for countable noun. Knowledge of this difference assists when applying these words in different cases\u2014it enhances the measure of accuracy and cohesiveness of the message.<\/p>\n
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Which sentence uses the underlined word correctly? A: It seems as if there are\u00a0less\u00a0children on the class trip than we originally planned. B: Less\u00a0people go […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n