There are ______ thirty students inside the classroom at any time.
- (a)less than
- (b)fewer than
- (c)less then
- (d)fewer then
Correct — B, 'fewer than'. 'Students' are countable, and countable nouns take 'fewer', while 'less' is reserved for uncountable quantities (less water, less time); the blank also needs the comparison word 'than', not the time/consequence word 'then'. Only 'fewer than' is correct on both the countability rule and the spelling.
- (a)less than — 'Less' is for uncountable mass nouns; with the countable 'students' the correct word is 'fewer'.
- (c)less then — Doubly wrong — 'less' misused for countable students, and 'then' (a time/consequence word) is the wrong spelling for the comparative 'than'.
- (d)fewer then — 'Fewer' is right for countable students, but 'then' is the wrong word — a comparison requires 'than', not the time adverb 'then'.
'Fewer' vs 'less': 'fewer' for countable nouns (fewer students), 'less' for uncountable ones (less water). 'Than' introduces a comparison; 'then' marks time or consequence.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Choose the correct phrase: 'The shop sold ______ ten copies today.'
- (a)less than
- (b)fewer than
- (c)less then
- (d)fewer then
Answer(b) fewer than — 'copies' are countable and the comparison word is 'than'.
- practice — not a real PYQ
In which sentence is 'less' correct?
- (a)There were less chairs.
- (b)We have less water than before.
- (c)Fewer sugar was added.
- (d)Less students came.
Answer(b) 'less water than before' — 'water' is uncountable, so 'less'.