We have less books than Tony

[Vladv1]

Is it correct to say " We have less books than Tony/ We have the least books of all the libraries. Or should it be fewer books/the fewest books. Thanks.

 

[Rover_KE]

Is it correct to say "We have less books than Tony"/"We have the least books of all the libraries?"

No.

Should it be "fewer books"/"the fewest books"?

Yes.

 

[emsr2d2]

Is it correct to say "We have less books than Tony/We have the least books of all the libraries" or should it be "fewer books/the fewest books"? Thanks.

Here's the rule you need to follow:

"Less" is used with uncountable nouns.
"Fewer" is used with countable nouns.
(I'm assuming you know the difference between a countable and an uncountable noun.)

I have less water than you.
He has less compassion than his sister.
We have less money than we used to.

She has fewer books than her brother.
They have fewer ideas than the other groups.
You have fewer freckles than I do.

 

[shootingstar]

@emsr2d2
We have less money than we used to.

Since when is money uncountable??? Everyone counts their money, don't they - unless they were millionares? That must be a mistake and have to get a string of exclamation marks!!!!!!!!. Only the millionares' money is uncountable - yes!

(All just fun.)

 

[5jj]

The word 'money' is a non-count noun, a term that causes less confustion to learners.

 

[emsr2d2]

The test to work out if something is countable or not is to see if you can add "a" or "one" etc in front of it.

I have money.
I have some money.
I have a money.
I have one money.
I have three monies.

 

[Vladv1]

Here's the rule you need to follow:

"Less" is used with uncountable nouns.
"Fewer" is used with countable nouns.
(I'm assuming you know the difference between a countable and an uncountable noun.)

I have less water than you.
He has less compassion than his sister.
We have less money than we used to.

She has fewer books than her brother.
They have fewer ideas than the other groups.
You have fewer freckles than I do.

What about when there is no noun? I spend little. I drive the car little.

 

[5jj]

I spend little. I drive the car little.

There, 'little' is a determiner meaning 'not much'

 

[jutfrank]

What about when there is no noun? I spend little. I drive the car little.

We don't use 'little' much for this. We much prefer 'not (very) much':

I don't drive the car much.
I don't spend very much.