Helpful Hint
LESS OR FEWER - BE SMARTER THAN A SUPERMARKET
The difference between less and fewer is similar to the difference between amount and number. Amount and less refer to the quantity of something and number and fewer to countable items, to the number of things. We might say that there is less water in the lake than there was last year and that there are fewer birds around.
The use of fewer will sound odd to many people because we hear less being used incorrectly all the time - especially in supermarkets, where there are express checkouts for people with '12 items or less'! Obviously it would sound silly to say, 'There is fewer space,' or 'There is fewer water in the lake'. Well, for people who know how to use fewer, it sounds just as strange to say, 'There are less players' or '12 items or less'.