Less 跟 fewer 是 IELTS 考官「秒抓」的錯誤之一。為什麼？因為它跟可數/不可數綁在一起——一旦寫錯，等於同時暴露兩個 Grammar 漏洞。

為什麼是 Taiwanese 特有錯誤

中文「比較少」一個詞通用：

  • 「比較少人」（可數）
  • 「比較少水」（不可數）

英文卻把兩種「少」分開：

| 用法 | 後接 | 範例 | |------|------|------| | fewer | 可數複數名詞 | fewer people / fewer cars / fewer mistakes | | less | 不可數名詞 | less water / less time / less money |

6 個 ❌ vs ✅ 對比

| ❌ Wrong | ✅ Correct | |---------|-----------| | Less people attended this year. | Fewer people attended this year. | | I made fewer mistakes than last time. | I made fewer mistakes than last time. (✓ 已對) | | We need fewer pollution. | We need less pollution. | | There are less options available. | There are fewer options available. | | He earns less hours of overtime. | He earns fewer hours of overtime. | | The chart shows fewer rainfall in summer. | The chart shows less rainfall in summer. |

三個合法的「例外」

英文母語者在這三個情境用 less 跟可數名詞——而且這是正確的：

| 例外 | 範例 | |------|------| | 金額 | less than 100 dollars (不是 fewer dollars) | | 時間 | less than three years (不是 fewer years) | | 距離 | less than five kilometres (不是 fewer kilometres) |

邏輯：金額/時間/距離雖然有單位，但被視為整體量，不是離散物件。

Task 1 圖表描述常見錯誤

❌ In 2020, fewer water was consumed. ✅ In 2020, less water was consumed. (water 不可數)

❌ Less tourists visited the museum. ✅ Fewer tourists visited the museum. (tourists 可數複數)

❌ Less than 50 percent of respondents agreed. ✅ Less than 50 percent of respondents agreed. (百分比視為整體量)

Quick Drill — 填入 less 或 fewer

  1. The company hired _____ workers this year.
  2. We should drink _____ coffee.
  3. _____ than 20 students passed the exam.
  4. The new policy will create _____ jobs.
  5. He earned _____ money than expected.
  6. _____ people are reading newspapers nowadays.
  7. The journey took _____ than two hours.
  8. There is _____ traffic on weekends.
  9. _____ children attend public schools.
  10. We have _____ time than we thought.

Answer Key

| # | 答案 | 為什麼 | |---|------|--------| | 1 | fewer | workers 可數複數 | | 2 | less | coffee 不可數 | | 3 | Fewer | students 可數複數 | | 4 | fewer | jobs 可數複數 | | 5 | less | money 不可數 | | 6 | Fewer | people 可數複數 | | 7 | less | 時間例外 (less than two hours) | | 8 | less | traffic 不可數 | | 9 | Fewer | children 可數複數 | | 10 | less | time 不可數 |

記住這一條

寫完一句後問自己：這個名詞我能加 s 嗎？ 能 → fewer。不能 → less。例外只記三個：金額、時間、距離。

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