Fewer or less

Question

#1 There are fewer passangers in the compartment.

#2 There are five members less in the committee.

#3 There were no fewer than fifty persons in the dining hall.

#4 I have ten ruppes less to pay.

I dont get the difference b/w "less" and "fewer". In above examples I would use "fewer" in all cases but its not correct. Can one please explain when to use "less" or "fewer".

Thank you

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Can't you even spell 'rupees' properly?

#1 There are fewer passengers in the compartment.

#2 There are five members less/fewer on the committee.

#3 There were no fewer than fifty persons in the dining hall.

#4 I have ten rupees less/fewer to pay.

taruns1008I dont get the difference b/w "less" and "fewer".

In old-fashioned grammar, 'less' is used with non-count nouns (less sugar, less water) and 'fewer' is used with countable nouns (fewer grapes, fewer people). However, today's grammarians accept 'less' for all nouns, and 'fewer' is dying a slow death.

Nevertheless, if you are taking a language proficiency test, follow the old rule.

Fewer or less

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