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

0:00 Hello.

0:00 I'm Gill at engVid, and today we have a

0:05 lesson on a set of words that go with countable

0:11 and uncountable nouns.

0:13 People sometimes get confused about this.

0:17 Even native speakers of English make mistakes with some of these words,

0:24 so I have it all explained here on

0:28 the board with some example sentences to show

0:33 what...

0:34 What to use in which example.

0:37 Okay?

0:38 So, the words are on the left-hand side there

0:44 in red, so "few", "little", "a few", "a little",

0:50 "fewer", "less", and "more".

0:53 Okay?

0:54 So...

0:55 And you can see that sometimes they're used with

1:01 a countable noun when you can have a plural.

1:05 So, if it's countable, like "book" and "books",

1:11 it's countable.

1:12 There can be 1, 2, 3, 5, 10,

1:16 100.

1:16 They're countable nouns.

1:18 So, "books" is a...

1:21 "Book" and "books" is a countable noun, so

1:25 "few" is used with books.

1:28 And then uncountable nouns are when you use a singular to refer to

1:36 that noun, like with "wine", "wine", "bread",

1:41 "rice", "water", "beer", those sorts of words

1:46 which are uncountable because they're used

1:51 in the singular.

1:53 "Sugar", "salt", all of those

1:55 different things, they're used in the singular,

1:58 but there can be a large quantity of it, but

2:02 it's one thing, and it's uncountable because

2:06 it's used in the singular only.

2:09 Okay.

2:10 So, it will vary according to whether the noun you're using

2:16 is a countable noun or an uncountable noun.

2:20 So, let's just have a look at each example to see

2:24 how that works out in practice.

2:27 So, with the word

2:29 "few", which means not...

2:32 Not very many.

2:34 Okay?

2:35 So, we've sold so many books...

2:37 Say we have a bookshop, we've sold so many books,

2:43 we have few left, meaning few books.

2:46 We don't have many books left.

2:49 We don't have a lot of

2:52 books left.

2:53 So, we've sold so many books, we have few left.

3:00 Okay.

3:00 And then looking at

3:03 an uncountable with "wine".

3:06 We've drunk so much wine, there's little left.

3:12 Say you have a bottle of wine and you've been topping up

3:19 people's glasses with it, and there's little

3:23 left in the bottle, for example.

3:26 We've drunk so much wine, there's little...

3:29 Little of it left.

3:31 There's little wine left, meaning not much wine

3:37 left.

3:37 Okay.

3:38 There's only a little amount.

3:41 Right?

3:43 And then, a bit confusingly, we've had "few"

3:48 on its own, but here we have "a few".

3:51 Okay?

3:52 And we're back to "countable" again.

3:55 And there are...

3:56 And we're back to the bookshop again.

4:00 There are "a few" books left in the shop.

4:04 Just a few, a small number.

4:07 And it's interesting that it sounds more positive if you use "a few".

4:13 If you say, "Oh, we have few left.

4:16 Oh, dear.

4:17 We have few left." It sounds rather negative and

4:21 worried.

4:21 You sound a bit worried if you say,

4:25 "Oh, we have few left now." But if you say,

4:28 "We have a few left.

4:30 We have a few left." It

4:32 sounds a bit more positive and optimistic.

4:35 So, that's the different effect between "few"

4:39 and "a few".

4:41 So, there are a few books left in the shop, so we can still sell those.

4:50 So, more positive than "we have few left", "there are a few left".

4:58 Okay?

4:58 And also, the same happens with "little" and "a

5:05 little".

5:05 So, "a little" is again uncountable.

5:09 "There's a little wine left.

5:11 There's a little bit of wine left in the bottle.

5:16 There's a little wine left." Whereas this one,

5:19 "We've drunk so much wine, there's little left

5:22 now.

5:23 Oh, dear." It's nearly gone.

5:25 It sounds more negative.

5:27 But here, "There's a little

5:29 wine left in the bottle.

5:31 Would you like the last

5:33 drop?" So, it's more positive sounding, I think.

5:37 But again, it's uncountable with "wine".

5:41 So, "a little wine left".

5:44 Okay?

5:46 Now, "fewer" is again like "few" used with a

5:51 countable noun.

5:52 So, we're looking at books again.

5:56 So, if people read on the internet, they

6:02 will buy fewer books.

6:04 Okay?

6:05 A lot of people,

6:07 including native English speakers, make a mistake

6:12 with this, and they say they will buy less books,

6:16 which is...

6:18 Strictly speaking, it's incorrect.

6:21 It's "fewer books", not "less books", because

6:25 "less" goes with an uncountable noun.

6:29 "Less wine".

6:31 "Fewer" goes with a countable noun,

6:35 like "books" in the plural.

6:37 "Fewer books".

6:38 So, if you see the noun is in the plural,

6:42 I think you'll find that "fewer" is the correct

6:46 word to go with it.

6:48 "Fewer books, but less wine."

6:50 Okay?

6:50 So, if people read on the internet, they will buy fewer books.

6:55 So, as I say,

6:57 native English speakers make that mistake.

7:01 So, you might be able to correct them.

7:05 Or maybe not.

7:07 You may not want to because they may be a bit

7:11 annoyed.

7:11 If I...

7:12 If I...

7:13 I don't correct people

7:14 either, because I think if I said to someone,

7:18 you know, "It should be 'fewer books', not 'less

7:21 books'", they would probably say, "Oh, Gill,

7:25 you're so pedantic." So, it's not nice to be

7:29 accused of being pedantic.

7:31 So, anyway, you might notice it anyway and say, "Oh,

7:36 I know more than that native speaker about English." So, okay, let's carry on.

7:43 So, "less" is used with uncountable nouns.

7:49 So, "The doctor advised us to drink less

7:55 wine." Okay?

7:56 Uncountable wine, less wine.

7:59 People don't tend to make a mistake with that one.

8:04 It's...

8:04 It's the fewer one that...

8:06 Where the mistake comes.

8:08 So, "less wine".

8:10 And then finally, we've had "less" and now

8:14 we've got "more", and this one works with both

8:18 countable and uncountable nouns.

8:21 So, that's something less to worry about.

8:27 So, we can say, "The shop has sold more books today." So,

8:34 a plural countable noun, books,

8:38 more books, or...

8:40 And then with an uncountable

8:43 singular, wine, "Would you like more wine?"

8:48 So, "more" works with both countable and

8:51 uncountable.

8:51 It works with books and it works

8:55 with wine.

8:56 Okay, so I hope that helps to clarify

9:01 a slightly confusing thing, and I think the

9:06 difference between "few" and "a few", and "little"

9:10 and "a little" is another thing, as well as the

9:15 mistake people make with "fewer" and the

9:18 countable noun.

9:19 Fewer books, not less books.

9:21 So, those are the main points to...

9:25 To remember about this.

9:27 So, I hope that's been a helpful

9:30 explanation, and if you'd like to do a quiz on

9:34 this topic, just go to the website, www.engvid.com,

9:39 and do the quiz, and I hope to see you again

9:43 soon.

9:44 Thanks for watching.

9:45 Bye for now.