Learn English: LESS, FEWER, FEW, LITTLE, A FEW, A LITTLE, MORE

Hello. I'm Gill at engVid, and today we have a

lesson on a set of words that go with countable

and uncountable nouns. People sometimes get confused about this. Even native speakers

of English make mistakes with some of these words, so I have it all explained here on

the board with some example sentences to show

what... What to use in which example. Okay?

So, the words are on the left-hand side there

in red, so "few", "little", "a few", "a little",

"fewer", "less", and "more". Okay? So... And

you can see that sometimes they're used with

a countable noun when you can have a plural.

So, if it's countable, like "book" and "books",

it's countable. There can be 1, 2, 3, 5, 10,

100. They're countable nouns. So, "books" is a...

"Book" and "books" is a countable noun, so

"few" is used with books. And then uncountable

nouns are when you use a singular to refer to

that noun, like with "wine", "wine", "bread",

"rice", "water", "beer", those sorts of words

which are uncountable because they're used

in the singular. "Sugar", "salt", all of those

different things, they're used in the singular,

but there can be a large quantity of it, but

it's one thing, and it's uncountable because

it's used in the singular only. Okay. So, it will

vary according to whether the noun you're using

is a countable noun or an uncountable noun. So,

let's just have a look at each example to see

how that works out in practice. So, with the word

"few", which means not... Not very many. Okay?

So, we've sold so many books... Say we have a bookshop, we've sold so many books,

we have few left, meaning few books. We don't

have many books left. We don't have a lot of

books left. So, we've sold so many books, we have few left. Okay. And then looking at

an uncountable with "wine". We've drunk so

much wine, there's little left. Say you have

a bottle of wine and you've been topping up

people's glasses with it, and there's little

left in the bottle, for example. We've drunk so

much wine, there's little... Little of it left.

There's little wine left, meaning not much wine

left. Okay. There's only a little amount. Right?

And then, a bit confusingly, we've had "few"

on its own, but here we have "a few". Okay?

And we're back to "countable" again. And there

are... And we're back to the bookshop again.

There are "a few" books left in the shop. Just

a few, a small number. And it's interesting

that it sounds more positive if you use "a few".

If you say, "Oh, we have few left. Oh, dear. We

have few left." It sounds rather negative and

worried. You sound a bit worried if you say,

"Oh, we have few left now." But if you say,

"We have a few left. We have a few left." It

sounds a bit more positive and optimistic.

So, that's the different effect between "few"

and "a few". So, there are a few books left in the shop, so we can still sell those.

So, more positive than "we have few left", "there are a few left". Okay? And also,

the same happens with "little" and "a

little". So, "a little" is again uncountable.

"There's a little wine left. There's a little bit of wine left in the bottle.

There's a little wine left." Whereas this one,

"We've drunk so much wine, there's little left

now. Oh, dear." It's nearly gone. It sounds more negative. But here, "There's a little

wine left in the bottle. Would you like the last

drop?" So, it's more positive sounding, I think.

But again, it's uncountable with "wine". So, "a little wine left". Okay?

Now, "fewer" is again like "few" used with a

countable noun. So, we're looking at books again.

So, if people read on the internet, they

will buy fewer books. Okay? A lot of people,

including native English speakers, make a mistake

with this, and they say they will buy less books,

which is... Strictly speaking, it's incorrect.

It's "fewer books", not "less books", because

"less" goes with an uncountable noun. "Less wine". "Fewer" goes with a countable noun,

like "books" in the plural. "Fewer books". So, if you see the noun is in the plural,

I think you'll find that "fewer" is the correct

word to go with it. "Fewer books, but less wine."

Okay? So, if people read on the internet, they will buy fewer books. So, as I say,

native English speakers make that mistake. So,

you might be able to correct them. Or maybe not.

You may not want to because they may be a bit

annoyed. If I... If I... I don't correct people

either, because I think if I said to someone,

you know, "It should be 'fewer books', not 'less

books'", they would probably say, "Oh, Gill,

you're so pedantic." So, it's not nice to be

accused of being pedantic. So, anyway, you might notice it anyway and say, "Oh,

I know more than that native speaker about English." So, okay, let's carry on. So,

"less" is used with uncountable nouns. So, "The doctor advised us to drink less

wine." Okay? Uncountable wine, less wine. People

don't tend to make a mistake with that one.

It's... It's the fewer one that... Where the mistake comes. So, "less wine".

And then finally, we've had "less" and now

we've got "more", and this one works with both

countable and uncountable nouns. So, that's something less to worry about. So,

we can say, "The shop has sold more books today." So, a plural countable noun, books,

more books, or... And then with an uncountable

singular, wine, "Would you like more wine?"

So, "more" works with both countable and

uncountable. It works with books and it works

with wine. Okay, so I hope that helps to clarify

a slightly confusing thing, and I think the

difference between "few" and "a few", and "little"

and "a little" is another thing, as well as the

mistake people make with "fewer" and the

countable noun. Fewer books, not less books.

So, those are the main points to... To remember

about this. So, I hope that's been a helpful

explanation, and if you'd like to do a quiz on

this topic, just go to the website, www.engvid.com,

and do the quiz, and I hope to see you again

soon. Thanks for watching. Bye for now.