Fewer or less: which is correct?
Correct
fewer (countable nouns) / less (uncountable nouns, amounts and measurements)
Avoid
less (with countable plurals: "less people", "less cars")
Summary
Correct: fewer (countable nouns) / less (uncountable nouns, amounts and measurements) — Avoid: less (with countable plurals: "less people", "less cars"). Fewer = a smaller number of things you can count; less = a smaller amount of something you measure rather than count, and smaller numbers of distance, money or time.
- Part of speech
- determiner
- Source
- Oxford
Why
Oxford: use fewer with things you can count (fewer cars) and less with mass nouns and quantities (less traffic, less than two hours); Merriam-Webster records less with plural nouns as long-established but still widely objected to in formal writing, so fewer is the safe choice.
Examples
- There were fewer applicants this year.
- We have less time than we thought.
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