Less and fewer (mindre, färre)

Few and fewer: få and färre

Just like in English, Swedish distinguishes between things you can count (like expenses or meetings) and things you cannot (like money). When you want to say "few" of a countable noun, use få.

We have few expenses this month.
Vi har få utgifter den här månaden.

To say "fewer," use färre.

Since the budget is small, we have fewer meetings.
Eftersom budgeten är liten har vi färre möten.

Less and least: mindre and minst

For uncountable nouns—like money, time, or food—use mindre to mean "less."

You waste less money now.
Du slösar mindre pengar nu.

To say "the least" (the superlative form for uncountable nouns), use minst.

Who wastes the least money?
Vem slösar minst pengar?

Countable vs. uncountable summary

Here is a quick reference for these quantity words:

QuantifierEnglishUsed with
fåfewCountable nouns
färrefewerCountable nouns
mindrelessUncountable nouns
minstleastUncountable nouns

It is common to contrast these words in the same sentence depending on what you are describing.

She earns less money and has fewer debts.
Hon tjänar mindre pengar och har färre skulder.
Less sugar and fewer cookies are good for the economy.
Mindre socker och färre kakor är bra för ekonomin.

Personal finance

These quantifiers are perfect for discussing your personal economy (ekonomin). You will often talk about your income (inkomsten), expenses (utgifter), and debts (skulder).

When the income is low, one has less food.
När inkomsten är låg har man mindre mat.
We must plan the finances to have fewer problems.
Vi måste planera ekonomin för att ha färre problem.
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