'Sugarfree' or 'sugarless'? When to add 'less' and when to add '-free' to form an adjective
Izida Mladenova from Bulgaria asks:
I find it a great idea to help people with their English via the Internet. So my question is: What's the difference (if any) between the adjectives ending in -less and in -free (Is the chewing gum 'sugarless' or 'sugarfree'?)
In your particular example, chewing gum, breakfast cereal, or food in general can often be described as 'sugarless' or 'sugarfree'. Whenever you form the adjective by adding the suffix -less or -free, you are describing something as not having or not affected by the thing mentioned. But I can only think of one other example (although there must be more) where they can be used quite interchangeably in this way, as in:
'This piece of work was quite error-free. It was an errorless piece of work.'
Normally, usage prescribes one OR the other. In the following examples, only one is possible. Test your knowledge by using either less or -free in each example. Check your answers with those below.
Answers homeless people trouble-free journey duty-free goods meaningless exercise powerless prisoners germ-free environment tireless runners doubtless the case
Note that the suffix 'less' or '-free' is normally added to nouns to form the adjective. In the penultimate example, it is added to the verb 'tire' and in the final example, 'doubt' can be viewed as either noun or verb.
What about 'careless' and 'carefree' you might ask. These are both possible. Indeed they are, but note that they are not alternatives. They are quite different in meaning. A 'careless person' is someone who does not take very much care over what he is doing, whereas a 'carefree person' is someone who has no worries.
You will have noticed that the suffix '-free' is usually hyphenated and is a stressed syllable (unlike 'less'). However, in two of the above examples, 'sugarfree' and 'carefree', there is normally no hyphen, at least in the examples I have seen.
