Less people attended the meeting than we had expected. Few people = not many people (definitely not a lot). But: Fewer people is the same as less but it is more formal and sounds grammatically more correct, although “less” is very common nowadays..
Keeping this in view, is less people grammatically correct?
People is most frequently a plural count noun, a plural of person. As you know, few is the quantifier that goes with plural count nouns, such as a few chairs and a few cars. The comparative form of few is fewer. So, the logical and correct expression is fewer people than before.
Beside above, how do you remember less or fewer? "Less" and "fewer" are both adjectives that modify nouns, but they have different uses. The basic rule to remember in less vs fewer is: Use less when describing singular nouns; use fewer when describing plural nouns.
In this regard, is it fewer or less people?
Fewer vs. 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.
Is it less than half or fewer than half?
A: Strictly speaking, as you know, “fewer” should refer to plural nouns (“fewer kittens”) and “less” to singular nouns (“less milk”). The phrase “half of the graduates” is closer to a collective mass noun than to a collection of individuals counted up. So I'd suggest “less than half of the graduates.”
Related Question Answers
Can I vs May I?
The only difference between the two verbs is that one is more polite than the other. In informal contexts it's perfectly acceptable to use can; in formal situations it would be better to use may. Back to Usage.How do you use less and more?
So remember, even though more can be used with both count and noncount nouns, use fewer with count nouns and less with noncount nouns to express smaller quantities or amounts.How do you use whom in a sentence?
Whom should be used to refer to the object of a verb or preposition. When in doubt, try this simple trick: If you can replace the word with “he”' or “'she,” use who. If you can replace it with “him” or “her,” use whom. Who should be used to refer to the subject of a sentence.How do you use fewer in a sentence?
fewer Sentence Examples - At least for the present, the fewer people who knew, the better.
- One little girl had fewer presents than the rest, and Helen insisted on sharing her gifts with her.
- In 2000, Africa had fewer than five million Internet users.
- Kiera made her way through the crowd to an area with far fewer people.
Is less an adverb or adjective?
EDIT: "Less" is one of a small class of modifying words in English that do not morphologically indicate when they are being used as an adverb or an adjective by the presence or absence of the suffix "ly." So the word "less" may be used as an adverb: "She is less exuberant than she was in college." In that example, "Who that which grammar?
Use that for things and, informally, for people. Sometimes, you need a comma before which and who. The rule is this: If the information added by the who or which clause is just additional information (i.e., it's not essential to identify another word in the sentence), then you should offset the clause with commas.Is money countable or uncountable?
Money is an uncountable noun, so use little/much with it. Rupees are countable, so use few/many with them. By the way, you can you a lot of and lots of with both "money" and "rupees".Can we use less with countable nouns?
According to prescriptive grammar, "fewer" should be used (instead of "less") with nouns for countable objects and concepts (discretely quantifiable nouns, or count nouns). According to this rule, "less" should be used only with a grammatically singular noun (including mass nouns).Why is 10 items or less wrong?
“10 items or less” is not correct! If you walk into any grocery store in the United States, and you will see a sign that says “10 items or less” for the fast checkout lanes. This is wrong – it should be “10 items or fewer” because “items” is a countable noun.Is lesser grammatically correct?
It would have to either be "less than" or "lesser" only. You would say less than or the lesser of. Not lesser than. However, it largely depends on the sentence in which you're using your particular example, as it may be that using 'fewer than' instead of 'less than' is correct.Do you use less or fewer with percentages?
(although 10.7% is a very arbitrary fraction to use for cake!) In general, the rule* for percentages would be: Use "less" with percentages of uncountable nouns. Use "fewer" with percentages of countable nouns.Why is money used with much?
Originally Answered: Why do we use "much" with money if money is a countable noun? Perhaps you need help understanding “much.” Much is the correct word for a lot of an uncountable noun. Much is correct when used with money. For a countable noun, the correct word for a lot of them is many.What is the difference between further and farther?
You should know the difference between “farther” and “further”. Many people use “further” and “farther” interchangeable, but, in fact, they mean slightly different things. “Farther” refers to a physical distance, while “further” refers to a figurative distance.Is Fewer an adverb?
as a pronoun: Connie did less than anyone else. (followed by 'of'): He seemed to spend less of his time with her. as an adverb (before an adjective or another adverb): The red jacket is less expensive. (with a verb): I've been trying to work less at the weekends.When to use was or were?
As I said above, was and were are in the past tense, but they are used differently. Was is used in the first person singular (I) and the third person singular (he, she, it). Were is used in the second person singular and plural (you, your, yours) and first and third person plural (we, they).What do you mean by fewer?
fewer(adj) (comparative of `few' used with count nouns) quantifier meaning a smaller number of. "fewer birds came this year"; "the birds are fewer this year"; "fewer trains were late"What is the difference between less and lesser?
Less refers to quantity, lesser refers to quality. Your sentence could be rephrased as "substitute less punishment for more punishment." Here we are saying that the amount of punishment is smaller. But if you say "substitute the lesser punishment" you are saying the type of punishment is not as severe.What does it mean to say more or less?
more or less. somewhat; approximately; a phrase used to express vagueness or uncertainty.Is Fewer an adjective?
adjective. of a smaller number: fewer words and more action.