Less or Least—What's the Difference? - LanguageTool

Less is the comparative form of little and refers to “a smaller amount of.” Least is the superlative form of little and refers to “the smallest amount of.” ○ ... Instantlyenhanceyourwritinginreal-timewhileyoutype.WithLanguageTool Getstartedforfree QuickSummaryontheDifferenceBetween“Less”and“Least” Lessisthecomparativeformoflittleandrefersto“asmalleramountof.”Leastisthesuperlativeformoflittleandrefersto“thesmallestamountof.” ○Jameshadlittleenergyleft,andEricahadevenless. ○Jordan,however,hadtheleastamountofenergyafterthebirthdaypartyandwentstraighttosleep. “Less”or“Least”Tounderstandwhentouselessorleast,youmustfirstknowwhatcomparativesandsuperlativesare.Comparativesandsuperlativesareusedforcomparisonsofadjectives,andtheyhelpshowcomparisonsbetweentwoormorenouns.Takeforexamplethewordhigh.Itscomparativeformishigher,anditssuperlativeishighest.Becausehighisaregularadjective,formingthecomparative(+“–er”)andthesuperlative(+“–est”)iseasy.However,somewordsareirregular,meaningthecomparativeandsuperlativedon’tfollowtheusualpattern.Little,anditscomparativeandsuperlativeform—lessandleast—aretheperfectexamples.Thisblogpostwillexplainwhatthesewordsmeanandwhentouselessorleast.“