Page 190 - Oxford_English_Grammar_Course_Basic_2015

a little and a few a little English; a few words

We use a little with singular (uncountable) nouns, and a few with plurals.
If you're hungry, we've got a little soup and a few tomatoes.

^ Put in a little or a few.
1 1 know...................... English. 6 Could 1have.............. ........more coffee?

2 1 speak..................... . words of Spanish. 7 I'd like to ask you...... ...............questions.
3 I'll be on holiday in ...,...................days. 8 I'm having................. .....trouble with the police.
4 Can you give m e...... ...............help? 9 The soup needs......... ............ more salt.
5 Grace will be ready in ...................... minutes. 10 I'm going away fo r...................... weeks.

Little and few (without a) have a rather negative (Q) meaning (like not much/many).
A little and a few have a more positive (Q) meaning (like some).

We've got a little food in the house if you're hungry. (= 'some, better than nothing')
There was little food in the house, so we went to a restaurant. (= 'not much, not enough')
His lesson was very difficult, but a few students understood it. (= 'more than I expected')
His lesson was so difficult that few students understood it. (= 'not many, hardly any')

^ Circle the correct answer.

► I have(//ft/e/a little time to read newspapers and no time at all to read books.
1 Come about 8 o'clock; I'll have little/a little time then.

2 There was little/a little water on the mountain, and we all got very thirsty.
3 Foreign languages are difficult, and few/a few people learn them perfectly.
4 I'm going to Scotland with few/a few friends next week.
5 I've brought you few/a few flowers.
6 Life is very hard in the Arctic, so few/a few people live there.
7 She was a difficult woman, and she had few / a few friends.
8 'Would you like something to drink?' ‘Little / A little water, please.'

Little and few are rather formal; in conversation we use not much/many or onlyalittle/few.

There wasn't much food in the house. OR There was only a little food in the house.
The lesson was so difficult that not many/only a few students understood it.

Make these sentences more conversational.

► I speak little English. ..!.9*^4.?£?.*?!?’. £ . . . PH I dovdt wcvLcfo
1 There was little room on the bus...............................................

2 Few people learn foreign languages perfectly...........................
3 She has few friends....................................................................
4 We get little rain here in summer. ...........................................
5 This car uses little petrol............................................................
6 There are few flowers in the garden...........................................
7 Our town gets few tourists........................................................

8 We have little time to catch the train.........................................

We can use (a) little and (a) few without nouns if the meaning is clear.
'Have you got any money?' 'A little.' 'Did you buy any clothes?' 'A few.'

In some answers, both contracted forms (for example I'm, don't) and full DETERMINERS 175
forms (for example lam, do not) are possible. Normally both are correct.