Less and fewer

+ or -

Before we start, I should confess that what I'm going to talk about is a grammar mistake which lots of native speakers make, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

You probably all know that more is the comparative of much and many. You probably also think that less is the opposite of more. Well it is, so you're right. However, more also has another opposite: fewer.

Technically, we use less with uncountable nouns and fewer with countable ones. For example:

• I wish I had less work to do. I'd really like to go to the swimming pool this afternoon. [work is uncountable]
• I have fewer friends here in Madrid than I do back home. [friends are countable]

However, according to answers.com: "...less is used in some constructions where fewer would occur if the traditional rule were being followed. Less than can be used before a plural noun that denotes a measure of time, amount, or distance: less than three weeks; less than $400; less than 50 miles. Less is sometimes used with plural nouns in the expressions no less than (as in No less than 30 of his colleagues signed the letter) and or less."