He has less books than I have.

[giddyman]

Hello, teachers.

(1) He has less books than I have.
(2) He has fewer books than I have.
(3) He has less books than I do.
(4) He has fewer books than I do.

Are those all ok? Which one is the best?

 

[tedmc]

1 and 3 are wrong.
2 is better than 4.

 

[5jj]

1 and 3 are wrong.

They are considered so, but are very commonly heard. I would never say 'less books', but I am beginning to wonder if my objection to it is stuffy.

2 is better than 4.

Perhaps to older speakers of BrE.

 

[emsr2d2]

I would never say 'less books',

That's good to know! I've adapted to various shocking changes in the language but I will never ignore the difference between "less" and "fewer". I have few bugbears (the older I get, the less time I have for them all) but that one is sticking around till I'm in the ground (I'm a poet and I didn't know it).

 

[5jj]

When I was a teacher trainer, the less/fewer difference was one of the things that I had to teach many of my native speaking trainees. Family members who used less books included my first wife (QTS), my second wife (PhD, DELTA), my daughter (MA, CELTA) and my son (MA, MSc, CertTESOL). I think it was one of the things (like not ending a sentence with a preposition, the shall/will difference, whom, etc., that I had drummed into me at school - they were not a natural part of my language. I think learners probably still need to be made aware of less/fewer, but I shall not be sorry if it disappears.

 

[jutfrank]

I'd be shocked if any of the experts here on the forum would prefer less to fewer in these sentences!