The difference between “few” and “a few”
Both “few” and “a few” indicate a small number of something. However, use of the little word “a” before the word “few” makes a very important difference in meaning. Basically, “a few” communicates a positive idea concerning quantity, and “few,” without that little word, communicates a negative one. If you say you have few friends, it sounds a bit sad because you consider the number of your friends to be very small, perhaps near zero. If you say you have a few friends, the listener is given the impression that, although you may not have many friends, you have some friends at least. It’s probably not a sad situation. Note, though, that the actual number of friends might in fact be the same. Choice of “few” or “a few” depends on the attitude of the speaker toward the quantity.
Notice how “yes” and “no” are used with “few” and “a few” in answers to questions. You can see that answering with “few” goes along with the basic answer of “no.”
Did the students ask many questions about your presentation?
—No, they asked few questions. They didn’t seem very interested.
Did the students ask many questions about your presentation?
—Yes, they asked a few. Generally they seemed pretty interested.
Does your brother have pots and pans in the new apartment?
—No, he has few pots and pans, so I’m bringing him some for tonight’s dinner.
Does your brother have pots and pans in the new apartment?
—Yes, he has a few. He has enough for tonight at least.
“Few” without “a” is somewhat close in feeling to “no” and “none.” So, for example, “They made few complaints” gives almost the same impression as “They made no complaints.” By contrast, “a few” is somewhat close in feeling to “some” or “a number of.” It’s a small amount, but it has some significance. So, for example, “There are a few forks on the table already” gives almost the same impression as “There are a number of forks on the table already.”
Note that “very few” intensifies the negative feeling of quantity of “few”:
- She made very few mistakes on her exam; in fact, it was almost perfect.
- There were very few complaints about the service, so the banquet manager was pleased with her staff’s performance.
In contrast, “a very few” is still on the plus side. It’s a very small amount, even smaller than “a few,” but it still has some significance. It cannot be ignored.
- I’ve told this secret to only a very few people, but I still worry that others will find out.
- Yes, it’s true that a very few people have complained, but we’re handling the problem now.
The difference between “little” and “a little”
The difference between “little” and “a little” is exactly the same as between “few” and “a few.” Although both expressions refer to a small amount of something, “little” is basically a negative expression of quantity (close in feeling to zero) and “a little” is a completely positive expression. (Both “little” and “a little” are used with uncountable nouns only.)
- Do we ever go out for lunch? No, we have little time for lunch so we eat at the office.
- We have little money left in our savings, so we have to be very careful with our spending now.
- There is very little gas in the car so we’d better stop and get some before we get on the highway.
- Yes, I do have a little material left over from my project. You are welcome to it if you’d like.
- My wife speaks a little Hindi, and it was very helpful when we were traveling in India.
- The situation looks bad, but I still have a little hope that everything will be all right.
It should be noted that if either of the expressions “a little ” or “a few” is modified by “only” or “just,” the expressions take on a slightly more negative feeling because these words signify an expectation that there could be or should be more. However, despite the possibility of being modified in this way, the two expressions remain positive rather than negative.
- I was disappointed that only a few students showed up for my presentation. [Some showed up, but I wish there had been more.]
- Was there any rain today? Well, I think we had just a little around noontime. [I feel as if it didn’t rain today, but I can’t deny that there was some rain around noontime.]
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