Less & Fewer

Know when to use the adjectives less and fewer

In English, there are two adjectives to describe the opposite of more: less and fewer. Less is used when speaking of a noun in general terms, and fewer is used when referring to a specific, measurable amount. We can say, “less water,” but if we wanted to use fewer we would need to specify how the water is counted, such as “fewer liters of water.” A good rule of thumb is to use less when the noun cannot be counted, and fewer when it can.