Fewer vs. Less: Explained in English

Fewer and Less both talk about smaller amounts, but for different kinds of nouns.

• Use fewer with things you can count one by one: apples, tickets, mistakes.
• Use less with uncountable or continuous nouns: water, traffic, love.

How to Decide:

• If you can put a number directly in front—three apples, ten tickets—you probably want fewer.
• If you measure it rather than count it—some water, more love—you probably want less.

Exceptions

In US English, we often treat time, money, distance, weight, and volume as single amounts, so less is standard: less than 20 minutes, less than $5, less than 10 miles, less than 2 pounds.

You'll also use less with adjectives and adverbs to show degree: less expensive, less busy, less quickly. Supermarket signs that say “10 items or fewer” follow the strict rule; “10 items or less” is common in everyday speech but less formal.

A few edge cases cause doubt.

• Percentages and fractions follow the noun that comes after: less than 30% water (mass), fewer than 30% of the students (countable people).
• Nouns that change meaning by context.. Coffee can be a mass noun (“some coffee”) or countable (“two coffees” meaning cups)—match the use: less coffee vs. fewer coffees.
• Finally, both one fewer and one less appear in US English; choose one fewer to keep the countable rule strict, or one less for idiomatic, natural style.

Examples

• A2: We have fewer chairs than people. (countable chairs)
• A2: I drink less soda now. (uncountable soda)
• B1: The new schedule means less time for breaks but fewer long meetings. (time = mass; meetings = count)
• B1: There were fewer errors in the second report, so we spent less money fixing them. (errors = count; money = mass)
• B2: Drivers reported less congestion on the highway and fewer accidents overall. (congestion = mass; accidents = count)
• B2: The policy aims for less than 10% waste in packaging and fewer damaged items in shipping. (percentage follows noun; items = count)

FAQs

Q1: Is “10 items or less” wrong?
A: It's commonly used. But formal writing style guides prefer “10 items or fewer.”

Q2: How do I choose with percentages?
A: Look at the noun: less than 5% salt (mass) vs. fewer than 5% of customers (countable). The word after the number decides it.

Q3: Why is “less than 5 miles” correct if miles are countable?
A: Measurements (time, money, distance, weight, volume) are treated as amounts, not individual units, so less is standard: less than 5 miles, less than $20, less than 30 minutes.