A little or a few? English is interesting

Example of use Page 1 A little or a few? English is interesting a little/ little (adjectives) are used before uncountable nouns: a little salt/ little salt a few/ few (adjectives) are used before plural nouns: a few people/ few people

Example of use Page 2 A little or a few? English is interesting All four forms (a little/ little, a few/ few) can also be used as pronouns, either alone or with of: Sugar? ~ A little, please. Only a few of these are any good.

Example of use Page 3 A little or a few? English is interesting a little, a few (adjectives and pronouns) A little is a small amount, or what the speaker considers a small amount A few is a small number, or what the speaker considers a small number. Only placed before a little/a few emphasises that the number or amount really is small in the speaker's opinion: Only a few of our customers have accounts. But quite placed before a few increases the number considerably: I have quite a few books on art. (quite a lot of books)

Example of use Page 4 A little or a few? English is interesting little and few (adjectives and pronouns) Little and few denote scarcity or lack and have almost the force of a negative: There was little time for consultation. Little is known about the side-effects of this drug. Few towns have such splendid trees.

Example of use Page 5 A little or a few? English is interesting This use of little and few is mainly confined to written English. In conversation, therefore, little and few are normally replaced by hardly any. A negative verb + much/many is also possible: We saw little = We saw hardly anything/We didn't see much. Tourists come here but few stay overnight = Tourists come here but hardly any stay overnight.

Example of use Page 6 A little or a few? English is interesting But little and few can be used more freely when they are qualified by so, very, too. extremely, comparatively, relatively etc. Fewer (comparative) can also be used more freely. I'm unwilling to try a drug I know so little about. They have too many technicians, we have too few. There are fewer butterflies every year.

Example of use Page 7 A little or a few? English is interesting a little (adverb) a little can be used: (a) with verbs: It rained a little during the night. They grumbled a little about having to wait. (b) with 'unfavourable' adjectives and adverbs: a little anxious a little unwillingly a little annoyed a little impatiently (c) with comparative adjectives or adverbs: The paper should be a little thicker. Can't you walk a little faster?

Example of use Page 8 A little or a few? English is interesting little (adverb) little is used chiefly with better or more in fairly formal style: His second suggestion was little (= not much) better than his first. He was little (= not much) more than a child when his father died.

Example of use Page 9 A little or a few? English is interesting little (adverb) It can also, in formal English, be placed before certain verbs, for example expect, know. suspect, think: He little expected to find himself in prison. He little thought that one day... Note also the adjectives little-known and little-used: a little-known painter a little-used footpath

Exercises 1 Put in little/ a little/ few/ a few: 1. We must be quick. We have time. 2. Listen carefully. I'm going to give you advice. 3. Do you mind if I ask you questions? 4. This town is not a very interesting place to visit, so tourists come here. 5. I don't think Jill would be a good teacher. She's got patience. 6. 'Would you like milk in your coffee?' 'Yes, please ' 7. This is a very boring place to live. There's to do. 8. 'Have you ever been to Paris?' 'Yes, I've been there times.' English is interesting

Key to exercises 1 1. We must be quick. We have little time. 2. Listen carefully. I'm going to give you a little advice. 3. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions? 4. This town is not a very interesting place to visit, so few tourists come here. 5. I don't think Jill would be a good teacher. She's got little patience. 6. 'Would you like milk in your coffee?' 'Yes, please. A little.' 7. This is a very boring place to live. There's little to do. 8. 'Have you ever been to Paris?' 'Yes, I've been there a few times.' English is interesting

Exercises 2 Some of these phrases need 'a'. Put 'a' where necessary. Put right if the sentence is already complete. 1. She's lucky. She has few problems. 2. Things are not going so well for her. She has few problems. 3. Can you lend me few dollars ? 4. I can't give you a decision yet. I need little time to think. 5. There was little traffic, so the journey didn't take very long. 6. It was a surprise that he won the match. Few people expected him to win. 7. I don't know much Spanish- only few words. English is interesting

Key to exercises 2 English is interesting 1. She's lucky. She has few problems. 2. Things are not going so well for her. She has a few problems. 3. Can you lend me a few dollars ? 4. I can't give you a decision yet. I need a little time to think. 5. There was little traffic, so the journey didn't take very long. 6. It was a surprise that he won the match. Few people expected him to win. 7. I don't know much Spanish- only a few words.

Sources English is interesting All texts used in this presentation were taken or adapted from: Thomson, A.J., Martinet, A.V. A Practical English Grammar. Fourth edition, OUF, Oxford, All exercises used in this presentation were taken from: Murphy, R., English Grammar In Use. Second edition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1994.