1. You use less in front of an uncountable noun to say that one quantity is not as big as another, or that a quantity is not as big as it was before.
A shower uses less water than a bath.
His work gets less attention than it deserves.
Although some people think it is wrong, you can sometimes use less in front of plural nouns, especially in conversation.
This proposal will mean less jobs.
Less people are going to university than usual.
However, in formal and written language, use fewer in front of plural nouns.
There are fewer trees here.
The new technology allows products to be made with fewer components than before.
As an alternative to `less’ or `fewer’, you can use not as many or not so many in front of plural nouns. These expressions are acceptable in both conversation and writing. After not as many and not so many you use ‘as’, not `than’.
There are not as many cottages as there were.
There aren’t so many trees there.
2, You use less than in front of a noun phrase to say that an amount or measurement is below a particular point or level.
It’s hard to find a house in Beverly Hills for less than a million dollars.
I travelled less than 3000 miles.
Although some people think it is wrong, in conversation you can sometimes use less than in front of a noun phrase referring to a number of people or things.
The whole of Switzerland has less than six million inhabitants.
The country’s army consisted of less than a hundred soldiers.
In formal writing, you should use fewer than, not `less than’, in front of a noun phrase referring to people or things.
He had never been in a class with fewer than forty children.
Note that you don’t use `less’ in front of the comparative form of an adjective. Don’t say, for example, `It is less colder than it was yesterday’; say `It is less cold than it was yesterday’.
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