THE CORRECT USE OF "FEWER, LESS & LESSER"

Indexed: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]Hello, dear students and learners of English. Welcome back to my grammar for success channel. In this video, you are going to learn about the correct use of the adjectives fewer, less, and lesser.

[00:00:12]I therefore request all of you to watch this very important video till the end without skipping it in the middle. I also request all of you to consider liking and sharing this video with all your very good friends. Thank you so much. Now, let's get into the video.

[00:00:28]Rule 39: fewer, less, and lesser. So, in this small video, you are going to learn about the correct use of these three adjectives. And before we see their correct usage, let us know their correct meaning. Fewer Fewer indicates number.

[00:00:46]It is always used with a countable noun.

[00:00:49]And the next less is there. It always indicates some quantity, and therefore it is always used with an uncountable noun. And here lesser is there. This lesser means less important. Okay? This is the comparative degree of the adjective little. Little, lesser, least.

[00:01:06]So, it is generally used to indicate the degree or quality. And another lesser is also there, but its spelling is different. L E S S O R. This lesser means one who transfers property by contract. And the spelling is different from this one. L E S S E R. This is L E S S O R. And let us take some examples to understand these adjectives more and more clearly. There are fewer students.

[00:01:34]Here you pay attention. Fewer always indicates some number, and it is always used with a countable noun. And therefore fewer students in the class.

[00:01:42]And you go to the next example. I have less money now. So, less indicates always a quantity, and therefore less is used with this uncountable noun. Right?

[00:01:53]And therefore this is also correct. I go to the last example. He chose the lesser of the two evils. Lesser means less important. There are two evils and he has chosen the lesser of the two evils.

[00:02:06]And now let us see how the questions are going to be given in your competitive examination. There are less books on the table. See here, less indicates the quantity. So less cannot be used with a countable noun and therefore this sentence is wrong. And what to say then?

[00:02:22]There are fewer books on the table. And you go to the next example. There is fewer water in the bottle. So this sentence is absolutely wrong because water is [clears throat] an uncountable noun and therefore you should not use fewer water. And what do you say then?

[00:02:37]There is less water in the bottle. Now you go to the last example.

[00:02:42]Never ignore the less details. Less details is absolutely wrong because details cannot be lesser. What you have to say is never ignore the lesser details. Lesser details means the less important details. Thank you so much for watching this video.