What is the difference between fewer and than?
fewer | than |
The comparative of few ; a smaller number.
(obsolete, outside, dialects, usually used with for) Because; for.
* 1854 , Reformation series:
* 1668 , William Lawson, A way to get wealth :
* 1665 , Stillingfleet, Laud, Carwell, A rational account of the grounds of Protestant religion :
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= introduces a comparison, and is associated with comparatives, and with words such as more'', ''less'', and ''fewer . Typically, it seeks to measure the force of an adjective or similar description between two predicates.
(now, chiefly, dialectal) At that time; then.
As a determiner fewer
is the comparative of few ; a smaller number.As a conjunction than is
(obsolete|archaic|or|dialectal) (usually used with for) because; for.As a preposition than is
introduces a comparison, and is associated with comparatives, and with words such as more'', ''less'', and ''fewer typically, it seeks to measure the force of an adjective or similar description between two predicates.As a adverb than is
at that time; then.fewer
English
Determiner
(en-det) (superlative fewest)- Fewer women wear hats these days.
- There are fewer tigers than there were a hundred years ago.
Usage notes
See also
* lessthan
English
(wikipedia than)Conjunction
(English Conjunctions)- If thou say yes, then puttest thou on Christ (that is, the wisdome of God, the Father) unkunning, unpower, or euil will: for than he could not make his rule so good as an other did his.
- You shall also take the fine earth or mould which is found in the hollow of old Willow trees, rising from the root almost to the middle of the Tree, at least so far as the tree is hollow, for than this, there is no earth or mould finer or richer.
- Answer me if you can, any other way, than because the Scriptures, which are infallible, Say so.
Old soldiers?, passage=Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than' his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. The machine gun is so much more lethal ' than the bow and arrow that comparisons are meaningless.}}
Preposition
(English prepositions)- Patients diagnosed more recently are probably surviving an average of longer than two years.