less

«less» in Mova's school dictionary: a smaller amount: less sugar — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective, determiner, adverb, pronoun (less, least); preposition (ten less two)

meaning for a pupil

1) Less means a smaller amount: less sugar. tree →

2) Less means not so much: less noisy. tree →

3) «Less than» compares two amounts: 5 is less than 8 (5 < 8). tree →

4) In maths talk, «less» can mean minus: ten less two is eight. tree →

5) Least means the smallest amount of all. tree →

6) «Nothing less than» means only the very thing named, and nothing smaller. tree →

sense in the lessons

having a smaller amount after a change («give some away, you have less: subtract»); or comparing two amounts («3 pounds less than a book»); the sign < means «less than»; in everyday life «less noise», «more or less» (about), «at least»

examples

• If you give some away to a friend, you have less: subtract. tree →
• A pen costs 3 pounds less than a book. tree →
• Kim has less juice than Tom. tree →
• 5 is less than 9. tree →
• 12 less 4 is 8. tree →
• Please make less noise. tree →
• Eat less sugar and more fruit. tree →
• Who has the least money? tree →
• He was accused of nothing less than murder. tree →

note

Ending up with less = subtract. Trap: «less … than» compares two amounts and may ask for a difference. Teachers prefer «less» with things you cannot count (less water) and «fewer» with things you can (fewer apples). «Less than» and the sign < point to the smaller number.

In the corpora

• Employers often glance at a CV for less than a minute, so grown-ups fuss over every word.
• Hot water costs energy to heat, so long showers cost money and leave less for the next person.
• Inflation means prices rise over time, so the same pound buys less; if pay rises more slowly, families are worse off.
• Own-brand food is often made in a similar way to famous brands but costs less because there is no big advertising.
• A landlord is allowed to raise the rent, usually with warning, and a rise leaves less money for other things.

Trees and pragmatics

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