“12 items or fewer” is correct/standard and “12 items or less” is incorrect/non-standard though common. It sounds common to me too. Less should only be used for non-countable nouns, so “less water”, “less time” but “fewer apples” and “fewer people”. “a glass of water or less” would be correct.
Simply so Is it less hours or fewer hours? “Fewer hours“. “Hours” is countable, so you must use “fewer”. “Less” is used only for the uncountable.
Can you say many fewer? In fact, the phrase “many fewer,” despite its seeming contradiction, is perfectly correct. That’s because the adjective “many” is used with countable items (discrete or separate entities), such as people, pebbles and polliwogs.
also Is it less or more fewer? fewer is: Less means a smaller amount or “not as much” and is used when describing singular or uncountable nouns. Fewer is defined as not as much and is used when describing plural or countable nouns.
Is it one less or one fewer?
A. If the countable noun is plural, choose fewer; if it’s singular, choose less. … When it says to reserve less for mass nouns, it means singular mass nouns.) One is always singular: there is one less food group in the new pyramid; there is one less number in this column.
Why say fewer instead of less? According to usage rules, fewer is only to be used when discussing countable things, while less is used for singular mass nouns. For example, you can have fewer ingredients, dollars, people, or puppies, but less salt, money, honesty, or love. If you can count it, go for fewer. If you can’t, opt for less.
What does far fewer mean?
In English we (should) use ‘less’ for uncountable nouns (less soup, less bread) and ‘fewer’ for countable nouns (fewer cakes, fewer chairs). So ‘far fewer’ basically means ‘much less‘, but the two are used in different cases.
How many fewer grammar are there? Both much and many can be used, but which is appropriate depends on whether the noun they’re referring to is countable or not. With countable nouns, use many more or many fewer: I had many more bananas than Tom. I had many fewer nickels than Alice.
What is the meaning of fewer than?
: at least —used to suggest that a number or amount is surprisingly large No fewer than 1,000 people attended the meeting.No fewer than 80 percent of registered voters turned out for the primary.
What do you mean by fewer? Definitions of fewer. adjective. (comparative of `few’ used with count nouns) quantifier meaning a smaller number of. “fewer birds came this year” “the birds are fewer this year”
How do you use less grammar?
According to usage rules, fewer is only to be used when discussing countable things, while less is used for singular mass nouns. For example, you can have fewer ingredients, dollars, people, or puppies, but less salt, money, honesty, or love. If you can count it, go for fewer. If you can’t, opt for less.
Can you say a lot less? Grammatically speaking, ‘a lot’ is horribly colloquial, let alone ‘way. ‘ You should never write ‘way less. ‘ ‘Much less‘ is the correct use in these circumstances.
Is it less than or fewer than?
1. “Less than” is used for quantities which cannot be counted, for example, “The employment rate in 2009 was less than it was in 2010.” Whereas “fewer than” is used for quantities which can be counted. For example, “Her shopping basket has fewer items than her friend’s shopping basket.”
What does it mean fewer than?
: at least —used to suggest that a number or amount is surprisingly large No fewer than 1,000 people attended the meeting.No fewer than 80 percent of registered voters turned out for the primary.
Is it fewer than or less than? 1. “Less than” is used for quantities which cannot be counted, for example, “The employment rate in 2009 was less than it was in 2010.” Whereas “fewer than” is used for quantities which can be counted. For example, “Her shopping basket has fewer items than her friend’s shopping basket.”
Why is it ten items or fewer? Because “10 items” refers to a number of discrete countable objects, the correct adjective would be “fewer”. Less is used for mass nouns that do not refer to a countable number of things. For example, “I think this soup needs less salt.” You would not say “fewer salt”.
What does much less mean?
Definition of much less
: not to mention —used especially in negative contexts to add to one item another denoting something less likely He had trouble paying for a car, much less a high-definition TV.
Is much fewer grammatically correct? Many is an adjective, while much is an adverb. As such, many cannot modify the adjective fewer; only an adverb can modify an adjective. Much fewer is simply more correct than many fewer, despite its cacophony.
How do you use less in a sentence?
- [S] [T] Tom can’t take less. ( CK)
- [S] [T] Tom could care less. ( CK)
- [S] [T] I couldn’t care less. ( CK)
- [S] [T] Tom should talk less. ( CK)
- [S] [T] Don’t settle for less. ( CK)
- [S] [T] I have less money than you. ( marloncori)
- [S] [T] We have less than two hours. ( CK)
- [S] [T] We have less than three hours. ( CK)
What is the difference between little and less? Little refers to non-countable nouns, and is used with the singular form. Less is the comparative form of little. Use less in comparative structures, especially before uncountable nouns.
Is it no less than or no fewer than?
No less than and no fewer than can be used interchangeably in many cases. To native English speakers, “fewer” should refer to a plural number. “An hour” is singular, therefore “fewer than an hour” doesn’t sound right to a native English speaker. You could say “no fewer than 60 minutes” and nobody would be concerned.
What is a better word for less? What is another word for less?
| fewer | declined |
|---|---|
| diminished | reduced |
| slighter | not as much |
| not as great | not so great |
| not so much | a lesser amount of |