Question 1

Is it "less people" or "fewer people"?

Accepted Answer

"Fewer people." People are countable, so the correct word is fewer. You can count people one by one: one person, two people, three people. Anything you can number takes fewer. "Less people" is common in speech, but careful editors will always catch it. This one comes up in news headlines, press releases, and demographic writing — places where an editor's eye is sharp. In conversational English, less people has been normalising for decades, but in edited prose fewer people is still the expected form. Exception: If the sentence really means an overall mass or percentage (less of the population turned out), less fits because the noun has become a quantity, not a count.

Question 2

When do I use "fewer"?

Accepted Answer

Use fewer for things you can count: fewer chairs, fewer errors, fewer hours logged.

Question 3

When do I use "less"?

Accepted Answer

Use less for amounts you measure rather than count: less water, less noise, less patience.

Question 4

Is it "10 items or less" or "10 items or fewer"?

Accepted Answer

Grammatically, "10 items or fewer." Items are countable, so they take fewer.

Question 5

Is it "less calories" or "fewer calories"?

Accepted Answer

"Fewer calories." A calorie is a unit you can count, so the right word is fewer.