much fewer vs far fewer

Both 'much fewer' and 'far fewer' are correct, but they are used in slightly different contexts. 'Much fewer' is more commonly used in formal or academic writing, while 'far fewer' is more common in everyday spoken English.

Last updated: March 23, 2024

much fewer

This phrase is correct but less common in everyday spoken English.

Use 'much fewer' when you want to emphasize a significant reduction in quantity. It is more formal and is often used in academic or formal writing.

Examples:

There were much fewer participants in the second round of the study.
There are much fewer opportunities for advancement in this company.

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The same pitch can represent many sounds, so it has much fewer phonemes than Spanish.
There were much fewer ingredients available to make these stars - mostly just hydrogen gas.
It worked for me, too. I received much fewer tech-support calls from her.
Instead, with regard to the areas that are today known as public administration, with the managers gone the work will undoubtedly be reduced to much fewer people with purely executive, more functional tasks.
With the new electoral law, the Western diaspora is entitled to a maximum of two seats, much fewer than it could obtain with the old proportional system.
This extension of his network seems to have been Monnet's main activity: he participated only in half the sessions of the League and wrote much fewer dossiers than his colleagues.
Not only did we have much fewer commodities; the incidence of diseases, famine, and lack of sanitation was so acute that the lifespan of the average citizen was significantly shortened.
Scholarly calligraphy and poetry also continue, in much fewer numbers, this heritage.
There were much fewer steps for me and Harry.
But there are much fewer examples of such "intelligent power" than we would all like to see.
Because before 1980, there were much fewer people born than there were during the last 30 years.
Thus, making wine from must that has been partially separated in a different container to that holding the skins means losing much fewer of these elements in comparison with traditional vinification processes.
Cultivated olives are big, fleshy, rich in oil, but fewer than in wild olive trees and in any case much fewer than their flowers.
The number of days of such leave and the possible grounds on which it may be taken are much fewer than those available to Commission officials, temporary staff and contract staff.
On balance, however, throughout much of the world, people live longer, work much fewer hours, and lead generally healthier lives.
Low data volume: requires much fewer data elaboration power instead of systems based on several individual cameras;
SSRIs have much fewer and milder side effects compared to the older non-selective reuptake inhibitor and has largely replaced these.
I allude only to the butterflies; for the moths, contrary to what might have been expected from the rankness of the vegetation, certainly appeared in much fewer numbers than in our own temperate regions.
In addition, in order to bypass the rules arising from its intergovernmental nature which subjects it to approval by its Member States, the UN is using the NGOs which it finances in order to implement its programmes everywhere and with much fewer constraints.
As rapporteur, I am naturally aware of the fact that Malta has the same problems adjusting to the EU as other candidate countries, except that they are much fewer in number and therefore easier for the EU to cope with.

Alternatives:

significantly fewer
considerably fewer
substantially fewer
noticeably fewer
markedly fewer

far fewer

This phrase is commonly used in everyday spoken English.

Use 'far fewer' when you want to indicate a significant decrease in quantity. It is more informal and is often used in spoken language.