ro oJ We use every: We use each: © with almost, nearly, practically, virtually to when we talk about both people or things emphasise we are talking about the group ina pair: as a whole: I had to wear a bandage on each knee. or Now I run nearly every day. «on both knees. to talk about events at regular intervals: @ as a pronoun: every other kilometre, every single day, every We were each given a medal for completing few weeks, every six months: the 5km fun run. T go out running every couple of days. 5 (a/ the) few, little; less, fewer (than) [START POINT ] A few of my friends are quite good at team sports 1 seem to have fewer injuries now than when I was younger. There is little evidence that running causes major problems. You should eat less protein as you prepare for « race. There's not much you can do about it Few (of) and little (of) are often rather formal. Less formally, we use phrases such as not many and not much. We often use a few and a little to suggest that a small quantity or amount is enough, or more than we would expect: He's won a few medals. T've been starting to get a little pain in my knees. In formal contexts, we often use few and little to suggest that a quantity or amount is not enough, or is surprisingly low: Before | joined the club I had very few friends who lived nearby. @) We can also use the few and the little followed by a noun to suggest ‘not enough’: B It’s one of the few sports where no special equipment’s needed, T used the litele time I had to prepare for the race. In comparisons, we use less with an uncountable noun, and fewer with a plural noun: I should eat less chocolate. You should eat fewer biscuits The opposite of both less and fewer is more: I should eat more chocolate. You should eat more biscuits. © In conversation, some people also use less (than) before a plural noun referring to a group of things or people: There were less than 20 competitors. A This is grammatically incorrect and would be marked wrong in a formal written exam. Fewer (than) should be used instead: There were fewer than 20 competitors. When we talk about a period of time, a distance or a sum of money, we use less than, not fewer than: My aim is to complete the course and do it in less than six hours.