fewest

«fewest» in Mova's school dictionary: the smallest number of things — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective, pronoun (few, fewer, fewest)

meaning for a pupil

1) Fewest means the smallest number of things. The one with the fewest has fewer than all the others. tree →

2) It is used with things you can count: «the fewest mistakes». tree →

sense in the lessons

In school maths: a comparison — which group has the smallest count; «the fewest coins to make 50 cents»; «the fewest boxes needed» (round up after dividing); tally charts and bar graphs (the shortest bar). In everyday life: «the fewest mistakes», «the fewest points». Phrases: «the fewest», «fewest of all».

examples

• Who has the fewest stickers? tree →
• Which class read the fewest books? tree →
• What is the fewest number of coins to make 50 cents? tree →
• The fewest number of boxes needed is 4. tree →
• On the bar graph, Friday had the fewest visitors. tree →
• The team with the fewest points went out. tree →
• She made the fewest mistakes in the spelling test. tree →
• Which month has the fewest days? tree →

note

«Fewest» is for counted things (fewest apples); «least» is for amounts (least water). Opposite: «most». Maths: points to the smallest number. Trap: «the fewest boxes needed» means round up after dividing.

In the corpora

• Using the biggest coins first gives the fewest coins for any amount.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «fewest» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.