# few/a few - little/a little



## ReiCHeL

¡¡Hola!!
A ver si me podéis aclarar esto:

Para contables:
few: Pocos.
a few: Algunos.

Para incontables:
little: Poco/s.
a little: Algún/os.

O sea, las diferencias, son que few/a few es para contables y solo en plural, y little/a little es para incontables (plural y singular).
¿Es así, o me equivoco?
¿Podríais poner algún ejemplillo con little/a little? Muchas gracias.

Moderator's note: several threads have been merged to create this one.


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## Jellby

Pues yo diría que la misma diferencia entre poco/pocos y un poco/unos pocos.

Tengo pocos libros -> I have few books
Tengo unos pocos libros -> I have a few books (y realmente quiero decir que tengo bastantes).


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## JackInMadrid

This is an interesting question. I don't know the translations into spanish for sure, so I will give extra explanations in English

I have a few books = I have some books, may be between 3 -10
I have few books = I don't have many books, I am emphasising that the number is small

I have a few problems with Spanish = I have some problems, not lots but some
I have few problems = I don't have many problems, I am emphasising that the number is small

I have a little money = Right now I have some (not much) money on me
I have little money = Generally I don't have much money.

There is a little water here = Right now, there is some water here (not much)
There is little water here = Generally in the area, there isn't much water

So...

"few" is more general and emphasises that the number is small (countable)
"a few" is more specific to here and now (countable)

"little" is more general and emphasises that the number is small (uncountable)
"a little" is  more specific to here and now (uncountable)

I hope that helps
Jack


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## Cosmopolita

ReiCHeL said:


> Hola!!
> A ver si me podeís aclarar esto:
> 
> Para contables:
> few: Pocos
> a few:Algunos
> 
> Para incontables:
> little: Poco/s  *Poco*, en singular, porque precisamente es incontable. (un poco de azúcar, un poco de paciencia, etc.)
> a little:Algun/os  *Algo*, porque precisamente si es incontable no podés usar algunos.


 
Como dijo Jack, aunque siempre se está hablando de algo en poca cantidad, la diferencia en el significado entre el uso de uno u otro está en que cuando usás *few* o *little* hacés hincapié en lo poco, en la carencia. En cambio, cuando usás *a few* o *a little*, estás poniendo el énfasis en que a pesar de que no hay o no tenés mucho cantidad de algo, algo tenés. 

Espero que te ayude!


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## alexmarauder

I took this from a text.

We use Little and Few with Negative Ideas:
- Hurry up! there is little time (= not enough time)

We often use Very before Little and Few (very little, very few)
- There's very little time


"a little" and "a few" are more positive ideas:
"we have a little time before the train leaves"

We can use "a little" and "a few" with negative ideas too.. but we should add "only"
- Hurry up! We only have a little time.


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## _soul2soul_

Hi. I'd like to know what's the difference in meaning between *few/a few* and *little/a little *

e.g. 1.-He knew very *few* people in the room
He knew *a few* people in the room

2.-We have very *little* money left
We have *a little* money left

Thanks.


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## Tazzler

Hello,

You'll find the answer easy because it's the same thing in Spanish. 

_a few= unos cuantos_
_few= poco_

_a little= un poco de_
_little= poco_

With the article, the words mean _some, several_. Without it, they mean _hardly any, not high in number_. 

_Few _goes with _many_, and _little_ goes with much. That is to say, use _few_ with countable nouns and _little_ with non-countable nouns.

I hope you see the difference clearly now.


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## _soul2soul_

I get it. For instance I can say: I got many (or few) books; since books are countable, but I should say: I got much (or little) knowledge since the word knowledge is non-countable. Right?


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## gomie2003

"very little" is less than "a little", same with the word "few".  Without "very" or "a", the phrases sound a little ambiguous to me.


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## rodneyp

_soul2soul_ said:


> I got many (or few) books;
> 
> I *have* many books.
> 
> I *have a few* books.
> 
> I *have a lot of* books.
> 
> 
> I got much (or little) knowledge
> 
> ** In this case you can't use much. You have to say "a lot of"
> 
> I *have a lot of* knowledge about [something]
> 
> I have a lot of knowledge about that.
> I have a lot of knowledge about astronomy.
> 
> I have a little knowledge about [something]
> 
> I have little knowledge about that.
> I have little knowledge about astronomy.


 
Your examples using "knowledge" sound very formal. If you're just talking with friends or having a casual conversation it would sound more natural to say:

I don't know much about that. / I know a lot about that (astronomy)

I only know a little about that.


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## Ynez

Tazzler said:


> Hello,
> 
> You'll find the answer easy because it's the same thing in Spanish.
> 
> _a few= unos cuantos_
> _few= poco*s*_
> 
> _a little= un poco de_
> _little= poco_



I just added an "s" (few = pocos). That little thing is our difference between "little" and "few".


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## _soul2soul_

Thank you very much... I appreciate your time!


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## veggito72

When do we use each of them?

She puts little sugar in her coffee. 
She puts a little sugar in her coffee. √

I have little time left. √
I have a little time left.

I only have a few good friends. √
I only have few good friends.

Few men are truly loyal. √
A few men are truly loyal.

I have put checks to what I believe is right, am I?
What is the logical explanation if I am?

Thank you for your help!


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## irish223

In most of your examples, both are correct, depending on the context.



veggito72 said:


> When do we use each of them?
> 
> She puts little sugar in her coffee. *This is correct if you are emphasizing that she doesn't put very much sugar in her coffee.*
> She puts a little sugar in her coffee. √ *This is just a general statement.*
> 
> I have little time left. √ *This one also emphasizes the lack of time, and may be used to say, "I don't have time for that now."*
> I have a little time left. *This one suggests that you do have time for someone, just not much.*
> 
> I only have a few good friends. √ *Correct, and it has a more optimistic tone.*
> I only have few good friends. *I wouldn't say this, but I would say, "I have few good friends." This is more of a depressing statement in my opinion.*
> 
> Few men are truly loyal. √ *This is a statement about mankind in general.*
> A few men are truly loyal. *This is correct if you're talking about a specific group of men, and noting that some are loyal and some are not.*
> 
> I have put checks to what I believe is right, am I?
> What is the logical explanation if I am?
> 
> Thank you for your help!



I hope I've explained it clearly.


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## borgonyon

Tal como lo ha puesto irish223. Todo depende del contexto. Dirían en mi tierra: Es la misma burra, pero ahora está mojada . . .


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## Chris K

I only have few good friends. 

I can't think of a situation in which this would be used in contemporary English. For the other examples see Irish223's remarks.


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## Mate

Como bien opinaron mis colegas más arriba, quiero agregar _una posible_ traducción a algunas de las expresiones.


veggito72 said:


> She puts little sugar in her coffee. *Ella le pone poco...* (en general suele ponerle poco, porque no le gusta o le hace mal)
> She puts a little sugar in her coffee. √ *Ella le pone un poco...* (en ese café en particular)
> 
> I have little time left. √* Me queda poco tiempo* (como si se estuviera por morir o como si no le quedara tiempo en general)
> I have a little time left. *Me queda un rato libre *(para darte, para estar contigo, para la nota, entre una actividad y la siguiente > particular).
> 
> I only have a few good friends. √ *Lo único que tengo es un puñado de/unos pocos buenos amigos* (es lo único que le queda)
> I only have few good friends. _No es una estructura que se use._ Si no estuviese ese "few" yo entendería que no tiene malos amigos; que todos los que tiene son buenos. Este juego de frases se sale de la regla general/particular porque la segunda frase no se usa.
> 
> Few men are truly loyal. √ *Pocos hombres son leales de verdad*/verdaderamente leales (es una afirmación retórica, como dando un discurso, de carácter general)
> A few men are truly loyal. *(Sólo) unos pocos hombres son leales de verdad *(indica que hay una cantidad, aunque no la especifica, pero está hablando de un cierto grupo o conjunto de hombres en particular)


Little => poco azúcar, tiempo (son conceptos generales)
A little => un poco de azúcar, de tiempo (hay un concepto de medida, de cantidad en particular)

Few => pocos
A few => unos, algunos pocos

De nuevo, vamos de un concepto general a uno más definido y particular.


Hope it helps!


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## veggito72

Thank you all for your enlightening explanations... doing A LITTLE research myself I found this in another website:

THE QUANTIFIERS

A few and few, a little and little

These expressions show the speaker's attitude towards the quantity he/she is referring to.

A few (for countable nouns) and a little (for uncountable nouns) describe the quantity in a positive way:

"I've got a few friends" (= maybe not many, but enough)
"I've got a little money" (= I've got enough to live on)
Few and little describe the quantity in a negative way:

Few people visited him in hospital (= he had almost no visitors)
He had little money (= almost no money)

Have a great day everybody!


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## karbe

In my opinon, "to have a few good friends" is better than "to have few good friends", and "to have a little money" is also better than "to have little money".


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## veggito72

yes... you are right Karbe!
I had A FEW answers, but all all of them were very helpful. I'm grateful for that!


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## amd7

Hi,

I would like to know the difference between "a little/little" and "a few/few" 
me podrían decir cuando usarlos? y la diferencia entre ellos?

Gracias de antemano =)


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## Masood

Hello and welcome,

In its simplest form:
_little _is used when talking about non-countable nouns (a little sugar, a little salt).
_few _is used when talking about countable nouns (a few carrots, a few potatoes).


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## amd7

vale, muchisimas gracias


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## bowarco

La diferencia entre poner el artículo indefinido "a" o no es que sin el artículo tiene una connotación más negativa.

 I have got a little money to have a coffee. ( positivo) tengo poco dinero pero suficiente para el café.
 I have little money: ( negativo) tengo poco dinero no puedo permitírmelo.


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## amd7

muchas gracias, esto es lo que necesitaba saber =)


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## yolanc

I would thank you for your help, it was very useful. 



JackInMadrid said:


> This is an interesting question. I don't know the translations into spanish for sure, so I will give extra explanations in English
> 
> I have a few books = I have some books, may be between 3 -10
> I have few books = I don't have many books, I am emphasising that the number is small
> 
> I have a few problems with Spanish = I have some problems, not lots but some
> I have few problems = I don't have many problems, I am emphasising that the number is small
> 
> I have a little money = Right now I have some (not much) money on me
> I have little money = Generally I don't have much money.
> 
> There is a little water here = Right now, there is some water here (not much)
> There is little water here = Generally in the area, there isn't much water
> 
> So...
> 
> "few" is more general and emphasises that the number is small (countable)
> "a few" is more specific to here and now (countable)
> 
> "little" is more general and emphasises that the number is small (uncountable)
> "a little" is  more specific to here and now (uncountable)
> 
> I hope that helps
> Jack


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## cirodirosa

Hola Amigos, soy nuevo por aca... y queria aportar unas dudas que tengo al resolver esta tarea para mi curso de ingles... he adjuntado la imagen, si alguien  me puede ayudar estare muy agradecido.
un saludo
ciro


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## Amapolas

Hola, Ciro. Acá no se hace la tarea.  Pero si tenés una duda específica podés plantearla y vemos. 
Este hilo en el que agregaste tu pregunta tiene algunas explicaciones bastante piolas. ¿Necesitás ayuda para entender mejor alguna?


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## cirodirosa

hOLA! claro, me imagino que no es para hacer la tarea, pero no encontre mejor forma para pasarles mis dudas sobre este ejercicio que subiendo una foto de como lo habia resuelto. No fue con mala intencion ni vagancia solo que despues de leer el hilo no estaba seguro si respondi bien.


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