färre

Færre is a Danish and Norwegian word meaning "fewer" or "a smaller number." It functions as a determiner or as a comparative adjective used with countable nouns in the plural. It is the comparative form of få, indicating a quantity smaller than a referenced amount. In use, færre modifies the noun directly and is typically paired with a comparison, as in færre mennesker end forventet.

In Danish, færre is used with plural count nouns, while for non-count quantities Danish generally uses mindre rather than færre. It contrasts with flere, which means "more." The choice between færre and flere depends on whether the speaker refers to a smaller or larger quantity relative to another point of reference.

Examples include: færre biler end i fjor (fewer cars than last year), der er færre studerende i år (there are fewer students this year), and færre dødsfald end forventet (fewer deaths than expected). In comparative constructions, an implicit reference point is often introduced with end or endto (than).

Cognates exist in other Scandinavian languages. In Norwegian Bokmål, the word is færre, and in Swedish the cognate form is färre. The use and meaning are broadly parallel across these languages, though spelling and minor usage rules can vary by language and dialect.

See also: få, flere, mindre.