(a) little and (a) few

. uncountable and plural

We use the determiner (a) littlewith singular (usuallyuncountable) words, and we use(a) few with plurals. Compare:

I have little interest in politics.

Few politicians are really honest.

We’ve got a little bacon and afew eggs.

2. of after (a) little and (a) few

We use (a) little of and (a) few ofbefore a pronoun or determiner(for example the, my, these –see 154).

Compare:–Few people can say that theyalways tell the truth.Few of us can say that wealways tell the truth.–Could I try a little wine?Could I try a little of yourwine?–Only a few children like maths.Only a few of the children inthis class like maths.

3. use of a

There is a difference betweenlittle and a little, and betweenfew and a few. Without a, littleand few usually have rathernegative meanings. They maysuggest ‘not as much/many asone would like’, ‘not asmuch/many as expected’, andsimilar ideas.

The average MP has little realpower.

Few people can speak a foreignlanguage perfectly.

A little and a few are morepositive: their meaning isgenerally closer to some. Theymay suggest ideas like ‘betterthan nothing’ or ‘more thanexpected’.

Would you like a little soup?

You don’t need to go shopping. We’ve got a few potatoes andsome steak.

Compare:–Cactuses need little water.(not much water)Give the roses a little waterevery day. (not a lot, butsome)–His ideas are difficult, and fewpeople understand them.His ideas are difficult, but afew people understand them.Quite a few (informal) means ‘aconsiderable number’.

We’ve got quite a few friends inthe village.

4 .formal and informal language

Little and few (with no article) are rather formal. In an informalstyle (e.g. ordinaryconversation), we generallyprefer not much/many, or only alittle/few.

Come on! We haven’t got muchtime!

Only a few people speak aforeign language perfectly.

However, very little and veryfew are possible in an informalstyle.

He’s got very little patience andvery few friends.

5 .(a) little and (a) few withoutnouns

We can drop a noun and use (a) little/few alone, if the meaning isclear.

Some more soup? ~ Just a little, please.

not used after be

(A) little and (a) few aredeterminers . They arenormally used before nouns, butnot after be.

They had little hope. (BUT NOTTheir hope was little.)

(a) little with adjectives andadverbs

(A) little can modifycomparatives.

How are you? ~ A little better, thanks.

The new model is little fasterthan the old one.

Little is not normally used tomodify other adjectives oradverbs.

It’s not very interesting. (NOT It’slittle interesting.)

A little can be used, like a bit(see 107), before adjectives andadverbs with a critical ornegative meaning.

You must forgive her – she’s alittle confused.

They arrived a little late.

Note also the expression littleknown.

He’s studying the work of a littleknown German novelist.