The words fewer and less have very similar meanings and both are usually translated using the Spanish word menos. They both refer to a decrease in an amount; however, they are used differently.
Fewer refers to a decrease in a countable quantity. Countable quantities are items that can be counted. For example books, houses, and cars are items that can be counted. We can say that we have three books in the bag, that there are six houses on our block, and that there are two cars in the parking lot. We can therefore use fewer to say things such as we have fewer books than you, that there are fewer houses on this block than on the next block, or that there are fewer cars in the parking lot than on the street.
Examples of things that cannot be counted include water, sunlight, and soil. We can, however, compare quantities of these items. We can say that there is less water in the bowl than yesterday, that there is less sunlight in this room than in that room, and that the heavy rains left us with less soil in our garden.
Occasionally there are some nouns that can use either adjective, and the choice will depend upon how the speaker is thinking of the object(s). For example, suppose we were using newspapers to protect a table top while we did some painting or other work on a table. Our friend put so much newspaper on the table that it not only protected the table, but it was actually making it difficult to work. We might say, “We need less newspaper on the table.” We wouldn’t be thinking of newspapers individually. We would be thinking in terms of the quantity of paper on the table. We would therefore use the word “less.”
Suppose, however, that we were staying in a hotel, and were accustomed to having eight or nine newspapers available for us to read when we went down to breakfast each morning. One day, instead of having eight or nine available, there are only four newspapers. We might say, “There are fewer newspapers today than there were yesterday.” In this case “fewer” is the word we would select. We would be thinking of individual newspapers, a quantity that can be counted.
Fewer refers to a decrease in a countable quantity. Countable quantities are items that can be counted. For example books, houses, and cars are items that can be counted. We can say that we have three books in the bag, that there are six houses on our block, and that there are two cars in the parking lot. We can therefore use fewer to say things such as we have fewer books than you, that there are fewer houses on this block than on the next block, or that there are fewer cars in the parking lot than on the street.
Examples of things that cannot be counted include water, sunlight, and soil. We can, however, compare quantities of these items. We can say that there is less water in the bowl than yesterday, that there is less sunlight in this room than in that room, and that the heavy rains left us with less soil in our garden.
Occasionally there are some nouns that can use either adjective, and the choice will depend upon how the speaker is thinking of the object(s). For example, suppose we were using newspapers to protect a table top while we did some painting or other work on a table. Our friend put so much newspaper on the table that it not only protected the table, but it was actually making it difficult to work. We might say, “We need less newspaper on the table.” We wouldn’t be thinking of newspapers individually. We would be thinking in terms of the quantity of paper on the table. We would therefore use the word “less.”
Suppose, however, that we were staying in a hotel, and were accustomed to having eight or nine newspapers available for us to read when we went down to breakfast each morning. One day, instead of having eight or nine available, there are only four newspapers. We might say, “There are fewer newspapers today than there were yesterday.” In this case “fewer” is the word we would select. We would be thinking of individual newspapers, a quantity that can be counted.
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