Tell it apart
| Aspect | Fewer | Less |
|---|---|---|
| Goes with | Plural countable nouns | Uncountable nouns |
| Example | 'Fewer cars on the road' | 'Less traffic on the road' |
| With numbers | Individual people or items: 'fewer than ten contestants' | Time, distance, scores: 'less than 10 miles' |
| Comparative of | Few | Little |
Use fewer with plural nouns you can count (fewer cars, fewer people) and less with nouns you can't (less traffic, less water). The big exception is measurement: with periods of time, distances, money and similar amounts, less than is the standard choice even though the units are countable: 'less than two weeks', 'less than 10 miles'.
What it really means
Fewer and less both mean "not as much", but English splits the job by what kind of thing you're measuring. If you can count it one by one (cars, emails, mistakes, people), the traditional choice is fewer. If it comes as a mass you measure rather than count (traffic, water, noise, patience), it's less. Fewer is the comparative of few; less is the comparative of little, and the pairs behave the same way: few cars, little traffic.
So far, so tidy. The rule's famous weak spot is numbers. You'd say "less than two weeks", "less than ten miles" and "a score of less than 100", even though weeks, miles and points are countable. Learner's dictionaries teach exactly that: less than with time, measurement and numbers treated as a total, fewer than when you're counting individual people or items ("fewer than twenty people").
And then there's the supermarket sign. "10 items or less" breaks the traditional count-noun rule, because the items are counted one by one. It sits close to the accepted "less than" with a number, which is why it looks natural to many people, but in formal writing "or fewer" is the safer choice.
In speech, less with plural nouns ("less pizzas") is common, and learner's dictionaries flag it as informal rather than standard.
Memory trick. Fewer is for things you could line up and number: one, two, three. If you can't put a number on each piece, it's less.
In real life
- Right: There were fewer complaints this year. (complaints can be counted)
- Right: There was less noise after midnight. (noise can't be counted)
- Wrong: We've got less pizzas than we need. (pizzas can be counted, so 'fewer pizzas' is the traditional standard)
Questions
Q01What is the difference between fewer and less?
Fewer is for things you can count one by one (fewer emails, fewer chairs). Less is for things you measure as a mass (less coffee, less patience). Less is also standard with time, distance and money: 'less than an hour'.
Q02Is '10 items or less' wrong?
By the traditional count-noun rule it should be '10 items or fewer', and that is the safer choice in formal writing. The sign sits close to the accepted use of less than with numbers ('a score of less than 100'), which is why 'or less' looks natural to many people.
Q03Is it 'less people' or 'fewer people'?
Fewer people. People are counted individually. 'Less people' is common in casual speech, but standard written English uses fewer.
Sources
- Less or fewer? — Cambridge Dictionary, English Grammar Today.
- less (determiner), with the less / fewer grammar point — Oxford Learner's Dictionaries.
- few (determiner), comparative fewer — Oxford Learner's Dictionaries.