Few, a few, little, a little
Few / a few, little / a little are quantifiers. Here is how to use them correctly:
| Few, a few | |
| A few is more than few. | |
| We use a few and few + a plural countable noun. | few people, few books, few letters a few people, a few books, a few letters |
| A few is a positive idea. | Fortunately, our financial situation is good: we still have a few good customers. |
| Few is a negative idea. It means 'almost none'. We can also use very few. | I'm very sad: I have few good friends. I'm very sad: I have very few good friends. (Both these sentences mean ‘I don't have many good friends – I would like to have more’.) |
| A few and few have irregular comparative and superlative forms. | few ⇒ fewer ⇒ the fewest a few ⇒ more ⇒ the most |
| Little, a little | |
| A little is more than little. | |
| We use a little and little + an uncountable noun. | a little time, a little food, a little money, little time, little food, little money |
| A little is a positive idea. It means 'not much, but some'. | I can help you: I speak a little English. |
| Little is a negative idea. It means 'nearly none, nearly nothing'. We can also use very little. | I can't help you. I speak little English. I can't help you. I speak very little English. Both these sentences mean ‘My English isn’t good; I would like to speak English better’. |
| A little and little have irregular comparative and superlative forms. | little ⇒ less ⇒ the least a little ⇒ more ⇒ the most |
Practise this grammar
Intermediate grammar exercise: few, a few, fewer, little, a little, less