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Dear Teacher Zone Team,
When I was studying English I learnt that when you are talking of things being in smaller quantities, you used the word ‘less’ for non-count nouns and ‘fewer’ for count nouns. I was recently challenged on this by a student whose mother is an English native speaker. He said that his mother told him it was OK to say ‘less’ for all nouns and that was what most native speakers used. I looked this up in a grammar book and that agrees with me, although I have heard some native speakers using the other form on the television recently.
Please can you help!
Liisa,
Helsinki, Finland
Dear Liisa
Thank you very much for your email and we are sorry to hear you are confused by this! In fact, your student’s mother is right. English as used by native speakers has changed a lot over recent years and although the grammar rule you talk about is still formally correct, many people now use ‘less’ with all nouns, countable or otherwise. Amongst native speakers there is a little bit of confusion and some older native speakers feel that the move from ‘fewer / less’ to ‘less’ is a terrible falling of standards. On the radio news this morning, I heard a reporter use ‘less’ with a countable noun and then correct himself to ‘fewer’. Also, a famous supermarket chain had new checkout signs made saying ‘Five items or less’ until many of their older customers complained and they changed the sign back to ‘Five items or fewer’! From a students’ point of view, it is still important that they know the formal rule, but they should also be aware of the changing usage.
All the best,
The Teacher Zone Team
800-992-1892
800-992-1892
