Comparisons of Quantity Worksheet:
More, less, fewer than...
Look at the following examples:
- Lebohang has more spirit than Jane.
- Lily wanted more bread than the others.
- Roger has less money than Siphomandla.
- Reggie asked for less butter than Mike.
"Spirit", "bread", "money" and "butter" are all examples of uncountable nouns. One cannot count spirit (life, or courage) - either you have it, or you don't. Likewize, one cannot count bread - only loaves of bread. You cannot have "five money", only "five rand"! The same applies to things like butter, You can count tubs of butter, but not butter itself. These uncountable nouns take the words more or less.
Now look at the following examples:
- Pauline has more children than Nomaswazi.
- Mandla ate more grapes than Thulani did.
- Portia received fewer marks than Angelina did.
- Sylvia has fewer zits on her face than Patience.
"Children", "grapes", "marks" and "zits", on the other hand are all examples of countable nouns. One can speak of "five children", "seven grapes", "ninety marks", or "three zits". These countable nouns take the words more or fewer.
To summarise:
More/less + uncountable noun than ...
More/fewer + countable noun than ...
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