Less or fewer people?

Question

Hello! I have seen situations when "less" is used with countable nouns like "people".What is the rule for using "less" and "fewer"Thank You!

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Here are discussions of the rules: http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2012/08/less-or-fewer/

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/less-versus-fewer

Fraze.it cites 289 examples of "exceptions" to the rule in both American & British English:

It has become very efficient at producing output, i.e. with less and less people.
We just need less people to do that, thanks to better automation and technology.
If considerably less people existed then global warming wouldn't be a problem.
Less and less people are getting news from televisions sets and more from the web.

But the http://fraze.it/n_search.jsp?q=%22fewer+people%22&l=0&t=0&ffo=false&findid=-1&ff= gives 2093 "correct" usages:

Last year, fewer people traveled as the economy sank into a deepening recession.
So I'm not too surprised that fewer people seem to be using self-checkout lanes.
However, it seems that fewer and fewer people sleep the optimum number of hours.

So, strictly speaking "fewer" is correct and "less" is not, but it is not an flagrant error.

CalifJim · Answer

anonymousWhat is the rule for using "less" and "fewer"?

"fewer" is only used with countable nouns.
"less" is (theoretically) used only with uncountable nouns, but in casual conversation it is also used with countable nouns.

A supermarket that I go to has two "express" check-out lanes. The sign over one has "15 or fewer items"; the sign over the other has "15 or less items", so you see that the rule for "less" is not always followed.

CJ

Less or fewer people?

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