Fewer people, not "less people": clearing up a common mistake

Reviewed and edited by

Anwar Kareem Today, 09:31

English.me team member

What kind of error is it?

Less people or fewer people. What's correct?

It is a grammatical error involving incorrect countable/uncountable noun agreement.

Why do people make this mistake?

People often confuse "less" and "fewer" because both describe smaller quantities, but they are used with different types of nouns. "Less" is used with uncountable nouns (like sugar or money), while "fewer" is used with countable nouns (like people or cars). The widespread incorrect usage of "less" with countable nouns has led to the error becoming common, especially in spoken English.

What is correct?

"Fewer" should be used with countable nouns like "people". So, "fewer people" is correct, not "less people".

Examples of correct usage

There were fewer people at the event this year.
Fewer people are using cash nowadays.
We need fewer people in the meeting.
Fewer people voted in this election.