Less ~ Lesser

less ~ lesser ~ few

Strictly speaking, in the featured image above, using the word “Less” before guns, a countable noun in its plural form, is wrong because we use ‘few’, ‘fewer’ & the ‘fewest’ before countable nouns and ‘little’, ‘less’ & the ‘least’ before uncountable nouns. However, in the present international English usage and especially in American usage, the word ‘less’ is used before countables and uncountables, too, without following the basic rule.

“Less” (adjective & pronoun; for the right pronunciation, please click here)

is the comparative form of the adjective ‘little’ — little – less/lesser – the least, which means ‘not so much in quantity; smaller in quantity’,

e.g.

He ate less food but drank more wine.

The teacher told the students to make less noise.

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“Lesser” (adjective; for the right pronunciation, please click here)

is also the comparative form of the adjective ‘little’, which means ‘not greater than or more than the other of the same kind’

e.g.

Which is the lesser evil of the two — smoking or drinking?

‘Lesser’ should never be used with the conjunction ‘than’!

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few people attended the meeting

“Few” (adjective; for the right pronunciation, please click here)

— few – fewer – the fewest, means ‘a small number; not many’,

“Few” should be used with countable plural nouns only.

e.g.

He made a few mistakes in his essay.

There are fewer people present today than there were yesterday.

There is an important point we all must know about the word “few”: “few” is used with the article ‘a’ in some sentences and without the article ‘a’ in some other sentences with difference in meaning: ‘A few’ gives us some positive connotation (sense); and ‘few’, without ‘a’, gives us a negative connotation (sense). For example, ‘a few schools’ = some schools, ‘a few people’ = some people, the number is more than expected (positive); but ‘few schools’ (without ‘a’) = almost no school, ‘few people’ = negligible number, almost no people at all (negative). And it is also the same with ‘little’: ‘a little’ gives us some positive idea and ‘little’, without ‘a’, gives us some negative idea.