less or lesser

less

Why is lesser incorrect?

New2grammarI hope the connection speed will improve later tonight as [lesser/less] people go online.

Which is correct?

Neither is correct. People is plural, so: fewer people go online. You can have an adjective after less: It was less interesting than I thought.

Thanks, CB. I have two questions.

less lesser least

1. So can say "I have lesser money than you"?

2. I know what you recommended is grammatically correct. Just out of curiosity, do native speakers say the original?

Thanks in advance.

I'd say "I have less money than you." 'Fewer' is used for countable nouns. As CB said, it should be 'fewer people ... '

Yoong Liat,
Could you help me understand why lesser is wrong?

less lesser least

1. So can say "I have lesser money than you"?

Hi New2grammar

little less least

Fewer people is correct.

This is a really good response, but it needs further clarification.

It is not just the fact that 'people' is plural that means you need to use fewer.
It is the fact that people is a countable quantity, meaning that you user integers to express the 'number' of people and then use corresponding comparative words [few/fewer/many]. If the quantity you were talking about was something not

It is customary to use the word less to describe time, money, and distance, even though they are count nouns.