Less and Fewer

A small car uses LESS gasoline than a large one.

A small car uses fewer gallons of gasoline than a large car, but it doesn't say anything about gallons. Therefore, you must use LESS since it's just comparing more or less gasoline. Fewer gasoline does not sound right anyway!

It took me LESS than an hour to complete my homework.

Although they could have counted the actual minutes, they chose to base their assessment on a general "more than an hour" or "LESS than an hour" statement.

My glass has LESS orange juice than yours.

Although you could take the time to measure the exact quantity of orange juice with a measuring cup, it is easier to simply compare the amount of orange juice in each glass. Simply by looking at the 2 glasses, we can see who has more and who has LESS.

Nate weighs LESS than Joey.

Nate weighs fewer pounds than Joey, but it doesn't say anything about pounds. So, use LESS since they are just generalizing about who weighs more or less.

A small car uses FEWER gallons of gasoline than a large car.

Since it talks about the actual gallons of gasoline, we can use FEWER.

This tomato plant has FEWER tomatoes than that other tomato plant.

Since it would be relatively easy to count the tomatoes on both plants, we can use FEWER.

There were FEWER rainy days this month than last month.

Since they are making this statement, it is obvious that they had counted the rainy days for both months. Therefore, FEWER is the better choice.

There are FEWER math problems on this worksheet.

Since they know how many math problems are on each worksheet, we can use FEWER.

My glass has FEWER ounces of milk than yours.

Since they know how many ounces of milk are in each glass, they can use FEWER.

Since I studied for my spelling test this week, I made FEWER mistakes.

Since I knew how many mistakes I made last week and this week, I can use FEWER.

There is LESS juice in my glass than in yours.

Since we are not measuring how many ounces of juice are in each glass, simply use LESS. Fewer juice does not make sense!

There are FEWER days in February than in January.

Since we know how many days are in each month, we can use FEWER.

I have FEWER dollars in my piggy bank than my brother.

Since we know that the unit of money we are using is DOLLARS, we can use FEWER.

There were FEWER students absent from class today.

Since we know that they had an accurate head count of the students on both days, we use FEWER.

I made FEWER mistakes this time!

Since you know how many mistakes you made each time, you can use FEWER.

The swimming pool has LESS water than it did last week.

Technically, we could measure how many gallons of water are in the swimming pool, but that would be extremely difficult. Usually you can look at the water level and tell whether it has gone up or down. Therefore, we use the general terms of more or less water.

My sister has LESS money in her piggy bank than I do.

They could have actually counted the dollars and cents in the piggy bank, but they aren't telling us. They are using the generalized term MONEY. So, they decided to use a general "more money" or "LESS money" statement. Fewer money wouldn't make sense.

There are FEWER oranges in the bowl, now that you have eaten some.

Use FEWER since they knew how many oranges they originally had and they know how many oranges they have now.

This bedroom has LESS space than we need.

While we could measure the bedroom to get the exact size, it appears that they can tell just by looking at it that the room is too small. Because of this, they are using a general "more space" or "less space" statement. Fewer space does not sound right!

If you are not sure whether to use fewer or less,

try each word in the sentence to hear which one sounds correct!!!

If you can count the objects,

use the word FEWER.

If the objects are not countable, or we are simply comparing more than or less than,

use the word LESS.