Pimp my English | More, less and fewer

By Anna Malczyk

Sometimes we need to show the relative quantities or proportions of two separate things. Here's how to use more, less and fewer correctly.

More
First, the easy part: more is used in all cases where you want to show an increase in something.

• There were more people in the room than we expected.
• We had more work this week because of the upcoming deadline.
• More people are using Facebook than ever before.

Less
Less is used when the thing discussed is uncountable – in other words, when you can’t separate one from the whole group.

• There was less milk in the fridge this morning. (You can’t count one milk, two milks…)
• There is less oxygen on Everest than at sea level. (You can’t count one oxygen, two oxygens…)

Fewer
Fewer is used when the things discussed are countable – that is, it’s possible to separate one from the whole group.

• The local library has fewer books than the one in the city. (One book, two books…)
• There are fewer apples on my tree this year. (One apple, two apples…)

The easiest way to figure out if you should use less or fewer is to ask yourself if the word has a commonly used plural form.

• If it does (e.g. cats, computers, people), use fewer.
• If it doesn’t (e.g. water, happiness, airtime), use less!

Related articles
Commas and semicolons
Hyphenating adjectives
Writing simply
Using capital letters
Subordinate clauses in sentences


Anna Malczyk is the communications executive at GetSmarter.

Click here to learn more about the University of Cape Town (Law@Work) Business Writing and Legal Documents Course.