except for fewer

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "except for fewer" is not correct in standard written English.
It is typically used incorrectly as "fewer" should be used with countable nouns, and the phrase lacks clarity without proper context. Example: "Everyone attended the meeting except for fewer than five people who had prior commitments."

⚠ May contain grammatical issues

Science

News & Media

Formal & Business

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

8 human-written examples

Apart from the SCCs, Fig. 3 shows that, overall, the dominant components are IN and SCC, except for fewer than five recommendations, where the networks are more fragmented.

Computational Social Networks

Baseline characteristics were similar between the treatment groups except for fewer patients taking antihypertensive and lipid-lowering medications in the exenatide twice-daily group (Table  1).

Cardiovascular Diabetology

The patients in this study had clinical characteristics similar to those of the whole patient cohort in the I-SPY 1 TRIAL [ 7], except for fewer human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2 -positive tumors.

Breast Cancer Research

Reasons for premature withdrawal from treatment were also similar between the APV600/RTV and APV1200 arms, except for fewer patients in the APV600/RTV arm withdrawing due to protocol-defined virologic failure (1% vs 6%) (Table 1).

BMC Infectious Diseases

Characteristics of the audited cases, however, are comparable with all term perinatal deaths in the national registration of the PRN; the registered cases were also comparable except for fewer cases with non-Caucasian ethnicity and fewer cases with birth weight <2000 g.

BMJ Open

We found a striking difference in embryos generated from Blimp1−/− rESCs in which we saw no AP-positive cluster at the base of the allantois (6/8), except for fewer than 6 AP-positive cells near the base of the allantois in 2 embryos, which did not seem to be migrating appropriately like authentic PGCs.

Cell Stem Cell

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

48 human-written examples

After surgery, Rojan's oesophagus was ultimately removed except for few centimetres.

The Guardian

He said that the resistance abstains from giving his group weapons except for "few Kalashnikovs".

Independent

The performance showed no difference under different environments except for few conditions in the addition task.

Building and Environment

All the ground-water samples exceeded the permissible limits of WHO standards except for few.

Applied Water Science

Most of the samples fall within the permissible limits of WHO standards except for few.

Applied Water Science

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When denoting a smaller quantity of countable items as an exception, use "except for a smaller number of" or "except for fewer than X" for improved clarity and grammatical correctness.

Common error

Avoid using "fewer" when referring to uncountable nouns. "Fewer" is exclusively for countable items; for uncountable quantities, use "less". A correct construction would be "except for less effort" (uncountable) rather than "except for fewer effort".

Linguistic Context

The phrase "except for fewer" functions as a prepositional phrase that introduces an exception regarding a reduced quantity. However, Ludwig AI indicates that this construction is generally considered grammatically incorrect. Grammatically, "fewer" is used to refer to countable nouns.

Expression frequency: Uncommon

Frequent in

Science

70%

News & Media

20%

Formal & Business

10%

Less common in

Encyclopedias

0%

Wiki

0%

Reference

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, the phrase "except for fewer" is used to denote exceptions related to a smaller quantity. However, Ludwig AI highlights that this phrase is generally considered grammatically incorrect. The correct use of "fewer" is limited to countable nouns, as such, alternative phrases like "except for a smaller number of" or "except for fewer than X" are recommended for improved clarity and grammatical accuracy. The phrase appears across various contexts, from scientific literature to news media, but its grammatical issues make it less suitable for formal writing. Therefore, be mindful of the grammatical implications when using this phrase.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

except for a smaller number of

Replaces "fewer" with "a smaller number of" to ensure grammatical correctness with countable nouns.

with the exception of fewer

Uses "with the exception of" as a more formal way to indicate an exception, followed by "fewer" to specify a smaller quantity.

apart from fewer

Uses "apart from" to indicate exclusion, similar to "except for", followed by "fewer" to specify a smaller quantity.

save for fewer

Replaces "except" with "save" to offer a slightly more formal alternative, followed by "fewer" to indicate a smaller quantity.

barring fewer

Uses "barring" as a synonym for "excepting", creating a formal tone while retaining the concept of exclusion, followed by "fewer" to specify a smaller quantity.

excluding fewer

Directly uses "excluding" to indicate what is not included, followed by "fewer" to specify a smaller quantity.

less a few

An alternative that conveys 'minus a few', emphasizing subtraction rather than exception.

minus a few

Replaces "except for" with "minus", indicating a subtraction of a small quantity.

besides a few

Uses "besides" to mean 'in addition to' or 'except', suitable when something is an additional consideration or exception.

leaving out a few

A more direct way of indicating exclusion, emphasizing the act of omitting some items.

FAQs

When is it appropriate to use "except for fewer"?

While "except for fewer" appears in some contexts, it's generally considered grammatically questionable. It's better to use phrases like "except for a smaller number of" or specify the number directly: "except for fewer than five". Using "fewer" is appropriate only with countable nouns.

What are some alternatives to "except for fewer"?

Alternatives include "apart from a smaller number of", "with the exception of a smaller number of", or "save for a smaller number of". These alternatives offer clearer and grammatically correct ways to express the same idea.

How can I use "except for fewer than X" correctly in a sentence?

Ensure that "X" represents a countable number. For example, "All students passed the exam "except for fewer than three"" is correct because "three" is a countable quantity of students. Incorrect: "except for fewer than minimal effort".

What's the difference between "except for fewer" and "except for less"?

"Fewer" is used with countable nouns (e.g., people, items), while "less" is used with uncountable nouns (e.g., effort, time). Therefore, you would say "except for fewer people" but "except for less time".