What is the difference between less and fewer?

Asked by: Meghan Cain

There’s a commonly repeated rule about fewer and less. It goes like this: fewer is used to refer to number among things that are counted, as in “fewer choices” and “fewer problems”; less is used to refer to quantity or amount among things that are measured, as in “less time” and “less effort.”

How do you remember the difference between less and fewer?

The basic rule to remember in less vs. fewer is: Less means a smaller amount or “not as much” and is used when describing singular or uncountable nouns. Fewer is defined as not as much and is used when describing plural or countable nouns.

Is it one less or one fewer?

It’s about plurals versus singulars. If you want to follow the strictest guidelines on “less” and “fewer” (which, by the way, I do), here’s the correct way to understand them: “Less” is for singular things. “Fewer” is for plural things. About 99% of the time, this language makes no difference.

What is the difference between fewer and more?

But if the word is instead of cars if it's traffic. Then you would say less traffic because traffic is a non-count.

Does fewer mean higher or lower?

(comparative of `little’ usually used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning not as great in amount or degree. less. (nonstandard in some uses but often idiomatic with measure phrases) fewer. Antonyms: more. (comparative of `many’ used with count nouns) quantifier meaning greater in number.

What is fewer mean in math?

Yes, usually, “fewer” means subtraction, but some questions might try to trick you! Be sure to read the problems carefully!

Is it less hours or fewer hours?

“Fewer hours“. “Hours” is countable, so you must use “fewer”. “Less” is used only for the uncountable.

Is fewer add or subtract?

Subtraction-minus, greater than, take away, fewer than, less than, subtract, decreased by.

What does less mean in a word problem?

Word Problems

Is much fewer grammatically correct?

Much fewer is simply more correct than many fewer, despite its cacophony. Many modifies a noun: many apples. Much modifies the adjective: much fewer apples or far fewer apples.

What is the rule for using less and fewer?

There’s a commonly repeated rule about fewer and less. It goes like this: fewer is used to refer to number among things that are counted, as in “fewer choices” and “fewer problems”; less is used to refer to quantity or amount among things that are measured, as in “less time” and “less effort.”

Is it 10 items or less or fewer?

“10 items or less” is not correct!



If you walk into any grocery store in the United States, and you will see a sign that says “10 items or less” for the fast checkout lanes. This is wrong – it should be “10 items or fewer” because “items” is a countable noun.

Is it less than or fewer than?

Summary: 1. “Less than” is used for quantities which cannot be counted, for example, “The employment rate in 2009 was less than it was in 2010.” Whereas “fewer than” is used for quantities which can be counted. For example, “Her shopping basket has fewer items than her friend’s shopping basket.”

How can we use less?

Fewer means “not as many.” We use fewer with countable nouns like cookies. Cookie Monster was told to eat fewer cookies. Less means “not as much.” We use less with uncountable nouns like milk.

Can you say much fewer?

Unfortunately, because of the weird sound of “many fewer,” some people fall into the error of using “much fewer” with countable items, as in, “Much fewer people came to the game.” But “much” should be used only with mass, uncountable items, such as grain, rain and pain.

Is it less minutes or fewer minutes?

The general principle here is that less should be used when describing a continuous quantity and fewer should be used for a discrete quantity. This is not the same as countable v non-countable. Time is a continuous quantity, so “5 minutes or less” is correct.

Is it less than 2 weeks or fewer than 2 weeks?

Fewer should be used when you are talking about items that can be counted individually, for example, “fewer than 10 apples”. Less is correct when quantities cannot be individually counted in that case, e.g. “I would like less water”.

Is it less than half or fewer than half?

The basic rule for precise use of “less” and “fewer” is simple (though we slip often). Use “fewer” with countable, individual things, and “less” with uncountable amounts, volumes, etc.

How do you use fewer in a sentence?

Fewer sentence example

1. At least for the present, the fewer people who knew, the better. …
2. In 2000, Africa had fewer than five million Internet users. …
3. We can make better food that uses fewer resources. …
4. One little girl had fewer presents than the rest, and Helen insisted on sharing her gifts with her.

What does less mean in a sentence?

Less means a smaller amount or something not as important. An example of less used as a noun is in the sentence, “She used less than he did,” which means she used a smaller amount that he did. noun.

Are percentages less or fewer?

Percentages. Percentages are single quantities. They are not countable, so that means using ‘less than‘. However when they refer to something countable, then you should use ‘fewer than’.

What is the difference between little and less?

Little refers to non-countable nouns, and is used with the singular form. Less is the comparative form of little. Use less in comparative structures, especially before uncountable nouns.

Is money less or little?

Roger Woodham replies: Less is used with uncountable nouns, like money or work or travel, and fewer is used with countable plural nouns, like coins or jobs or trips. Less is the comparative form of little and fewer is the comparative form of few.

Is it littler or more little?

If little means “small in size,” the comparative is littler or more little, and the superlative is littlest. If little means “small amount of,” the comparative is less, and the superlative is least. Examples: He was the littlest boy in the class.