Using Few / Little in English
We use a few and a little to mean "not very much" or "not very many". Whether you use a few or a little depends on what type of noun you are describing.
For example, "A few people came to the party." We use a few with plural, countable nouns.
"There's a little coffee left, if you would like some." We use a little with uncountable nouns.
We can also use few and little (without "a") for a more negative meaning. For example, "there's little point in calling" (= there's not much point calling).
"Few people understand" (not many people understand), compared to "a few people understand" (some people understand).
In spoken English, we can also say not many, or only a few to mean "few" and "only a little" or "not much" to mean "little".
When we make comparisons, we use fewer for plural nouns and less for uncountable nouns.
For example, "There are fewer people here than last year" or "he drinks less coffee than I do".
The problem is that it's rather difficult for me to understand whether a noun is countable or not. Jewellery for instance is countable for me. In other words I can count all my jewellery :) So I have to remember which noun is uncountable...This is a good point! Sometimes you do have to learn which noun is uncountable, but there are a couple of guidelines: a) If the noun is a concept word (like "life") they are uncountable unless you specify them in some way b) If the noun is "mass" (i.e. not one distinct thing, but made up of a quantity of parts) it is uncountable. For example, "oil" is not one molecule, but many. "Jewellery" is another example of this: your jewellery collection is made up of many pieces.
Is it much people or many people, People is a group of persons right? I am confused."Many people" or "a lot of people".
Many people is the correct form. Since you're talking about a countable noun such as PEOPLE.Ex: I saw six people in that car. I've never seen so MANY people inside a car at once until then.
But I still don't understand.. when do we put the "a" article.for example:We had ______ snow last winter.and the correct answer is "little" but why is incorrect if I use "a little"?You can also say "a little", and the difference is that "little" means "very little", while "a little" means "some".
answer this question,please and justify your answer: few students answered the question a few students answered the question which question is hard?The first question is hard. "Few" means "very few": maybe two or three students out of a class of twenty. "A few" is more in quantity than "few": maybe five or six students out of a class of twenty.
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