'Less' ou 'Fewer'
La différence entre 'Less' et 'Fewer' donne des difficultés à tout le monde, même les anglophones.
La règle est assez simple : utilisez 'Less' si le nom ne peut pas être compté, c'est-à- dire, on ne pourrait pas dire 'une chose, deux choses, trois choses'.
Par exemple: This week, I have less time than I did last week.
……….
I have less water in my cup than you have in yours………..
On utilise 'Fewer' si le nom peut être compté, par exemple:
I have fewer things to do tomorrow, perhaps we could talk then?...
Fewer people come to our Sunday meetings than to those on Saturday………..
Questions:
1) I went to __________________ football matches this year.
less fewer
2) There is __________________ happiness when you're not around.
less fewer
3) You should drink __________________ beer.
less fewer
4) __________________ than ten pages is easy to write!
Fewer Less
5) __________________ talking, more working!
Fewer Less
Questions: Less ou Fewer ?
1. There are _____________________________ women in my family than men.
2. The express line is only for shoppers with ten items or
6) Why don't you do __________________
work today?
7) I'm having __________________
problems with my English!
8) I hope that this task will take you __________________ time in the future.
9) Eat __________________ food, and you won't be so overweight!
10) This test has __________________
_____________________________
3. Mandy dumped me, but that doesn't mean I like her any _____________________________
4. You should try to use _____________________________ energy by turning off the light. when you leave the room.
5. We have _____________________________ students this year than last.
6. There seem to be _____________________________ tourists around this year.
7. Maybe he would worry _____________________________ if he understood the situation.
8. She has _____________________________ interest in gardening than he does.
9. There are _____________________________ buses on Sundays.
10. Doctors recommend eating _____________________________ salt.
11. David has _____________________________ ideas than everyone else.
12. I hope _____________________________ snow falls this year.
Much ou Many, à vous de choisir la bonne réponse
1. _____________________________ rice 2. _____________________________ sand 3. _____________________________ coffee 4. _____________________________ news 5. _____________________________ furniture 6. _____________________________ vegetables 7. _____________________________ bread 8. _____________________________ money 9. _____________________________ apples 10. _____________________________ children 11. _____________________________ flowers 12. _____________________________ water 13. _____________________________ ideas 14. _____________________________ advice 15. _____________________________ justice
A little ou a few
Compléter les phrases.
1. Could I have _____________________________ more time?
2. He has _____________________________ pencils in his bag.
3. There is _____________________________ cream in my coffee.
4. He has _____________________________ knowledge on the subject.
5. Could you put _____________________________ salt on this?
6. She has _____________________________ really good friends.
7. There are _____________________________ things I'd like to talk to you about.
8. Show here _____________________________ appreciation!
9. She wants a ring with _____________________________ diamonds in it.
10. You need _____________________________ patience to learn a language.
Complétez les phrases suivantes avec 'much' ou 'many' selon le cas
1. There is not _____________________________ work to be done.
2. How _____________________________ chairs are there in that room?
3. She never eats _____________________________ at breakfast.
4. _____________________________ people go shopping on Saturdays.
5. I haven't got _____________________________ money; I can't buy many books.
6. He made ten spelling mistakes in as _____________________________ lines!
7. How _____________________________ milk do you want?
8. There isn't _____________________________ room in this box.
Quantifieurs : Much, many, little and few
Much, many, little and few
We use much and little with uncountable nouns:
much time / much luck / little energy / little money/
We use many and few with plural nouns:
many friends / many people / few cars / few countries
We use much/many especially in negative sentences and questions. A lot (of) is also possible:
• We didn't spend much money, (or We didn't spend a lot of money.)
• Do you know many people? (or Do you know a lot of people?)
• I don't go out much, (or I don't go out a lot.)
In positive sentences a lot (of) is more usual. Much is unusual in positive sentences in spoken English:
• We spent a lot of money, (not 'We spent much money')
• He goes out a lot. (not' He goes out much')
You can use many in positive sentences, but a lot (of) is more usual in spoken English:
• A lot of people (or Many people) drive too fast.
But note that we use too much and so much in positive sentences:
• We spent too much money.
Little and few (without 'a') are negative ideas (=not much / not many):
• We must be quick. There is little time. (=not much, not enough time)
• He isn't popular. He has few friends. (=not many, not enough friends) You can say very little and very few:
• There is very little time.
• He has very few friends.
Put in much, many,few or little :
Questions:
1. He isn't very popular. He has _____________________________ friends
2. Ann is very busy these days. She has _____________________________ free time.
3. Did you take _____________________________ photographs when you were on holidays?
4. I'm not very busy today. I haven't got _____________________________ to do.
5. The museum was very crowded. There were too _____________________________ people.
6. Most of the town is modern. There are _____________________________ old buildings.
7. The weather has been very dry recently. We've had _____________________________ rain.
Much ou Many, à vous de choisir la bonne réponse
1. _____________________________ rice 2. _____________________________ sand 3. _____________________________ coffee 4. _____________________________ news 5. _____________________________ furniture 6. _____________________________ vegetables 7. _____________________________ bread 8. _____________________________ money 9. _____________________________ apples 10. _____________________________ children 11. _____________________________ flowers 12. _____________________________ water 13. _____________________________ ideas 14. _____________________________ advice 15. _____________________________ justice
A little ou a few
Compléter les phrases.
1. Could I have _____________________________ more time?
2. He has _____________________________ pencils in his bag.
3. There is _____________________________ cream in my coffee.
4. He has _____________________________ knowledge on the subject.
5. Could you put _____________________________ salt on this?
6. She has _____________________________ really good friends.
7. There are _____________________________ things I'd like to talk to you about.
8. Show here _____________________________ appreciation!
9. She wants a ring with _____________________________ diamonds in it.
10. You need _____________________________ patience to learn a language.
Complétez les phrases suivantes avec 'much' ou 'many' selon le cas
1. There is not _____________________________ work to be done.
2. How _____________________________ chairs are there in that room?
3. She never eats _____________________________ at breakfast.
4. _____________________________ people go shopping on Saturdays.
5. I haven't got _____________________________ money; I can't buy many books.
6. He made ten spelling mistakes in as _____________________________ lines!
7. How _____________________________ milk do you want?
8. There isn't _____________________________ room in this box.
Little / a little / few / a few
We use a little or little with uncountable nouns:
little time/ little money/
We use a few or few with plural nouns:
few days / few mistakes
A little and a few = un peu
Little and few = peu donc moins que a little et afew.
1. There was _____________________________ food in the fridge. It was nearly empty.
2. When did he go out? _____________________________ minutes ago.
3. I can't decide now. I need _____________________________ time to think about it.
4. There was _____________________________ traffic, so we arrived earlier than we expected.
5. The bus service isn't very good at night . There are _____________________________ buses after 9 o'clock.
6. Would you like some soup? Yes, _____________________________ , please.
7. I'd like to practise my English more but I have _____________________________ opportunity.
8. We're going away for _____________________________ days.
9. Everybody needs _____________________________ luck.
10. I can't tallk to you now. I've got _____________________________ things to do.
11. I eat very _____________________________ meat. I don't like it very much.
12. Exuse me, can I ask you _____________________________ questions?
13. There were _____________________________ people on the bus. It was nearly empty.
Little, few, a little, a few Questions:
1. Hurry! We've got _____________________________ time.
2. I met Michael _____________________________ weeks ago.
3. She is always alone. She's got _____________________________ friends.
4. Let's go and have a drink. We've got _____________________________ time before school starts.
5. She has _____________________________ friends at the seaside, and we enjoy ourselves a lot.
6. _____________________________ people can speak two languages perfectly.
7. She has got _____________________________ patience. She always gets angry.
8. The school was almost empty. There were _____________________________ students.
9. There is _____________________________ sugar in the house. Can you go and buy some?
10. Would you like some tea? Yes, please, but only _____________________________ .
Les quantifieurs Much et many
Un petit exercice sur la différence entre much et many ! Mais avant un petit rappel : Les quantifieurs expriment l'idée d'une grande quantité (beaucoup de ) .
**Much quantifie un nom indénombrable.
Ex : There are many people on the planet . = Il y a beaucoup de gens sur la planète .
**Many quantifie un nom dénombrable. Ex : I have many pens = j'ai beaucoup de stylos .
**Tous deux peuvent être remplacés par a lot of
**Précèdés de l'adverbe too (too much/too many), ils indiquent un excès (trop de ) (Devant un adjectif, on utilise TOO + adjectif: too young = trop jeune)
Questions:
1. There's _____________________________ rain .
2. Have you got _____________________________ friends ? 3. Stop it ! It's too _____________________________ for me !
4. I hope to have _____________________________ presents for Christmas because I was nice this year !
5. No ! I don't dive into this water, it's too _____________________________ cold ! 6. Oh my bedroom is messy I have so _____________________________ things ! 7. How _____________________________ does it cost ?
8. How _____________________________ money do you have ? 9. How _____________________________ oranges did you buy?
10. How _____________________________ orange juice did you buy ? 11. How _____________________________ books did he write ?
12. How _____________________________ people will be at your wedding ? 13. There's so _____________________________ love in your eyes !
14. There's too _____________________________ noise in this room ! Hush ! The baby sleeps ! 15. They have visited _____________________________ countries !
