The fewer vs. less dilemma is something that even confuses native speakers of English at times. Fewer is used for quantities that can be counted with finite numbers (whole numbers like 1, 2, 3). Meanwhile, less is used with uncountable nouns and continuous amounts. Check out these examples:
- There are less cars in the parking lot today. → There are fewer cars in the parking lot today.
A car is a countable noun which means you can count one car, two cars, three cars, etc., so we would use fewer here instead of less.
- We got fewer time on the exam than last time. → We got less time on the exam than last time.
Time can be either a countable or uncountable noun depending on the context, but in this case, it is an uncountable noun. You cannot count time unless you pair it with a measurement of time (four hours, five hours, etc.). So in this sentence, less is the correct choice.
The only case in which time would be countable is it is used to refer to the number of occurrences of a certain event: I went to the theater three times this month.
A few other examples of both fewer and less:
- Fewer people, fewer problems, fewer bottles
- Less money, less water, less pollution
The simplest way to know whether you should use less or fewer is by asking yourself if you can count the noun on your fingers (one object, two objects, etc.). If so, the noun is countable and should be paired with fewer.
The fewer vs. less dilemma is also closely related to many vs. much. Like fewer, many is used with countable nouns, while much is paired with uncountable or continuous amounts. Let’s take the countable and uncountable nouns above:
- How many people, how many problems, how many bottles
- How much money, how much water, how much pollution
You can also check out our article on Countable and Uncountable Nouns to learn more!
Check your sentences on Engram to see if you chose the correct one.
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