Less vs. Fewer: The Grammar Trap!

Have you ever gotten confused with less vs. fewer? If you have, there’s no reason to worry because these two words can cause problems for anyone. They both are opposites of “more” but aren’t interchangeable, so you need to be very careful when you choose to use one or the other in a sentence. Thankfully, the difference between them is pretty simple.

Less vs. Fewer: Understanding the Difference

Quick Tips:

• Use “fewer” for things you can count (e.g., books, people, chairs).
• Use “less” for things you can’t count or for singular mass quantities (e.g., water, money, time).

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Less vs. Fewer | Definition, Usage

Fewer:

• Meaning: Refers to a smaller number of countable items or things that can be counted individually.
• Use: Used with plural nouns that represent countable objects or quantities.
• Examples:
  • “There are fewer students in the class this year.”
  • “He bought fewer apples than she did.”
• Explanation: “Fewer” is used when you’re talking about things you can count, like apples, people, or cars.

Less:

• Meaning: Refers to a smaller amount of something that is uncountable or when referring to a singular mass or quantity.
• Use: Used with singular nouns that represent uncountable substances or abstract quantities.
• Examples:
  • “She has less money than her brother.”
  • “I drink less coffee these days.”
• Explanation: “Less” is used when referring to things that cannot be counted individually, like money, time, or water.

When to Use Less vs. Fewer

Look at the sentence, “John got higher grades this year because he’s spent fewer/ less hours playing computer games than before”. “Hours” is a countable noun, and this is the reason why, in this case, you should use fewer.

What about this example, “With Mary’s food in my fridge, there’s less space for me to put mine”? Here, “space” is an uncountable noun, since you can’t put an “s” at the end of it. This means that the word that fits is less.

Sometimes two sentences can have the same meaning and look almost the same, but you’ll still need to use different words in them. One example would be the following pair:

1. I drank fewer bottles of water on Saturday than on Sunday.
2. I drank less water on Saturday than on Sunday.

In the first sentence, you’re speaking about bottles that are countable, so you use fewer. However, in the second sentence, you’re speaking about uncountable water, so you use less.

Of course, there are exceptions that you need to be aware of. For instance, even though you can count money, you still need to use less when you’re talking about it, e.g. “I have less than a hundred dollars in my bank account”. The same applies to time and weight, e.g. “Alice has been studying Spanish for less than six months”, “This bag weighs less than two kilograms”.

Common Mistakes 

Using “less” with countable nouns:

• Incorrect: “There are less cars on the road today.”
• Correct: “There are fewer cars on the road today.”
• Explanation: “Cars” is a countable noun, so “fewer” is correct.

Using “fewer” with uncountable nouns:

• Incorrect: “She drank fewer water than usual.”
• Correct: “She drank less water than usual.”
• Explanation: “Water” is uncountable, so “less” is correct.

Supermarkets often incorrectly use “less” instead of “fewer” in signs like:

• Incorrect: “10 items or less.”
• Correct: “10 items or fewer.”
• Explanation: “Items” are countable, so “fewer” should be used.

Fewer vs. Less Examples

Examples of “Fewer”

• The new schedule means that employees will work fewer hours per week.
• This year, the team has fewer players than last year.
• By shopping during the week, you’ll find fewer people at the grocery store.
• If you make larger payments, you’ll have fewer installments to worry about.
• Eating fewer processed foods can lead to better health.

Examples of “Less”

• She spent less money on her vacation than she had budgeted.
• There is less sugar in this recipe than in the original version.
• With less traffic, the commute to work is much quicker.
• He has less interest in playing video games than he used to.
• You’ll find less comfort in a chair that has less padding.

Exercise: Test Your Knowledge

Determine if “fewer” or “less” is correct.

1. She has fewer opportunities than her brother. (True/False)
2. There are less people here than I expected. (True/False)
3. I need to drink less coffee in the mornings. (True/False)
4. Fewer than twenty employees attended the workshop. (True/False)
5. This road has less traffic at night. (True/False)
6. He made fewer mistakes on his second attempt. (True/False)
7. There’s less sugar in this recipe compared to the original. (True/False)
8. Fewer cars on the road mean less pollution. (True/False)
9. I have less books than you do. (True/False)
10. She spent less than $100 on her groceries. (True/False)

Answers

1. True
2. False (Correct usage: “Fewer people”)
3. True
4. True
5. True
6. True
7. True
8. True
9. False (Correct usage: “Fewer books”)
10. True