A Few/Few, A Little/Little
Both (a) few and (a) little are used to express an amount or a quantity of something.
Few/a few
Use few and a few with countable plural nouns. Few (without a) is a negative expression that means that there is almost no amount of something. A few has a little bit more positive meaning; it means that there is a couple of pieces of something, even though there is not a lot. Have a look at the examples:
- Few students knew the correct answer. (meaning: not a lot of students knew the correct answer)
- I have a few questions about the homework. (meaning: there is a couple of questions to be answered)
Little/a little
Use little and a little with uncountable nouns. Little is a negative expression that means almost none. A little is a bit more positive expression that is used to say that there is a small amount of something. See the examples:
- We have little time before the lesson. (meaning: there is not enough time before the lesson)
- We still have a little time before the train leaves. (meaning: there is still a bit of time before the train departs)
