Less is more… apart from when it’s fewer

Few pairs of words cause as much confusion as ‘less’ and ‘fewer’. While both have the same meaning (a reduction in quantity), ‘less’ often steals the limelight – leaving ‘fewer’ out in the cold.

To redress the balance, here’s a quick rule of thumb that will help you remember which to use, and when:

Use ‘less’ with singular nouns, and ‘fewer’ with plural nouns. (Or, use ‘fewer’ for things you can count, and ‘less’ for things you can’t count.)

Examples:

“There are fewer people in the pub tonight”

“You should eat fewer biscuits”

“She makes fewer mistakes than me”

“He has drunk less beer than me”

“There is less water in the bath”

“There is less milk in the bottle”

“There is less sugar in the jar”

Remember that expressions of amount, distance and time can also confuse things, with phrases such as “we paid less than £500 for our car”, “we’re less than 20 miles away” and “we’ll be there in less than four hours” being perfectly correct. This is because, in each case, the plural sums function as a singular unit. We don’t regard £500 as a collection of £500 individual pounds, but rather as one sum of money. Similarly, 20 miles is regarded as one total distance, and four hours a singular period of time.

So next time you’re tempted to use the word ‘less’, stop and think for a moment – ‘fewer’ just might be the better choice.