A few vs few What's the difference?

Way back in 2009 I did a lesson about countable & uncountable nouns today we're gonna look into the difference between a few & few. Both of these are used with countable nouns. HOWEVER, they have a different emphasis.

a few

This is POSITIVE you are stressing that you don't have a lot but you're happy you have a small amount of something.

I'm happy I have a few good friends like you guys.

Do you have a few minutes? I'd like to ask you a question.

On Thanksgiving, when I went to the supermarkets they had a few cans of cranberries left! I got lucky!

Pick up a few beers on your way home.

few

This is NEGATIVE, you're stressing that you're unhappy with how little you have of something.

I have few friends in Kyoto, it sucks.

Few people came to my birthday party, it was a real disappointment.

I got few presents last Christmas.

It's important to note that this usage sounds a bit old fashioned. Nowadays, people are more like to just use a negative sentence.

I don't have many friends in Kyoto, it sucks.

Not many people came to my birthday party, it was really disappointing.

I didn't get many presents last Christmas.

Now if you want to make similar sentences for UNCOUNTABLE nouns use a little and little.

a little

Yeah, I have a little time right now so we can talk if you like.

I had a little extra money left over at the end of the month so I was happy.

Can I have a little water?

little

Hurry up! There's little time left before the dealine.

After finishing our Christmas shopping we had little money left.

A beach with little sand isn't so nice.

Again just like few, little also sounds old fashioned. Any questions?

Phil

A few, a lot, a little...

Today, we will be talking a bit about how to correctly use countable and uncountable nouns with a little, a few and a lot... many Japanese English speakers often mix them up. So here goes~!

a few + countable nouns

Can you give me a few minutes?

Talk to you in a few days.

a little + uncountable nouns

I need a little time.

There's a little sand in my shoe.

a bit of + uncountable nouns

I need a bit of time.

Do you want to listen to a bit of music?

All of these are used to talk about a small amount of something. If you want to talk about a large amount it is easier just use:

a lot of + countable OR uncountable nouns

I'll need a lot of time to finish this report by next Friday.

Wow! There are a lot of bananaS in that tree~!

Please note you need to add S to countable nouns but NOT to uncountable nouns.

Well, I hope that helps, have a nice Thursday. It's my day off, yay~! ^_^

Countable? Uncountable?

Hey everyone, today I will talk a bit about countable and uncountable nouns. Usually, countable nouns are things you can physically count easily. For example; cars, apples, bananas, pens, books,etc.

Uncountable nouns are usually abstract concepts(love, art, photography) or things you can't easily count. For example; liquids(beer, coffee, wine), sand, grass, etc.

When you are speaking in GENERAL, you MUST add S to COUNTABLE nouns.

I like pineapples.

I like girls.

Uncountable nouns DO NOT need S.

I like reading.

I like beer.

Be careful!!! If you add an S to an uncountable noun you will change the meaning~!

Some teachers might say you are saying something grammatically incorrect, this is not true. The grammar is fine but the meaning has changed...

Example 1:

There are many people in the room=There are many humans in the room.

There are many peoples in the room=There are different ethnic groups in the room.

So, people means more than one person BUT peoples means more than one ethnic group. This is why the second sentence sounds strange, we would normally say "There are many peoples in Asia" not in a room! hahaha

Ethnic group=Ainu, Indian, French, Tutsi, Inuit, etc.

Example 2:

I like chickens=I like the animal.

I like chicken=I like the meat.

Animals are countable BUT meat is uncountable. So BE CAREFUL!

If you say, I like dog, it means you like to eat dog meat!!!