The amateur artist created
less paintings this year than last year, and now that he has got a full-time job, he has even less incentive to do it.
(A)
less paintings this year than last year, and now that he has got a full-time job, he has even less incentive to do it
(B)
smaller paintings this year than did last year, and now that he has got a full time job, he has even less incentive to do it
(C) fewer paintings this year than he did last year, and now that he has got a full time job, he has even less incentive to do so
(D)
lesser paintings this year than was done by him last year, and now that he has got a full time job, he has even less incentive to do so
(E) fewer paintings this year than
were created by him last year, and now that he has got a full time job, he has even less incentive to do it
Less vs. fewer: If the noun is countable, we want fewer; if the noun is not countable, we want less. For example, LESS water, FEWER bottles of water, FEWER cups of water. LESS rain, FEWER inches of rain. Okay, paintings are countable, so we want fewer. A, B, and D are out. Between C and E, E has passive voice in the first clause.
Answer choice C.