A little and a few

1. He has little chance of getting the train.
2. There is little water in the pot.
3. Few people attended the meeting.

What do we understand from these statements?
Many of us wrongly understand the usage of “little” and “few”.
We feel that:
(1) He has a chance of getting the train if he goes fast.
(2)You can get some water in the pot.
(3) Some people attended the meeting.
But these are incorrect. The first sentence means:
He does not have a chance to get the train
The second one means
There is no water in the pot.
The third one means
Nobody attended the meeting.

To get the meaning what we presume, we must say “a little” and “a few”.
Little and few when put alone give us negative meaning.

The little, very little, the few, very few etc. also are used for positive meaning depending on the situation.

Look at the following worked-out sentences to get it clear:


1. A little learning is a dangerous thing.
2. I've had a few drinks but I'm not drunk.
3. You won't change her mind so there is little use in trying (No use).
4. Michael Cane was born in South London, not the East End. Few people know that (Nobody knows).
5. I need a little help. I'm a bit stuck.
6. There weren't many people there. Just a few
7. Will you have a few strawberries? They're very good.
8. Will you have a little more ice-cream? We might as well finish it.
9. There's little point in continuing. We're all too tired (No point).
10. Could you spare me a few minutes?
11. I don't know if we can fit the cupboard into our house. There's little space as it is (No space).
12. All this kitten needs is a little love and attention.
13. There's little I can do about this. It's outside my control (Nothing).
14. Martin is a good student. He has few problems with English (No problems).
15. Generally Peter is good but sometimes he has a few problems.
16. I need to borrow a few dollars. Can you help me out?
17. We made good time because there was little traffic on the road so early in the morning (No traffic).
18. I think Coventry will win the match but few people agree with me (No one).
19. I can only speak a few words of Chinese.
20. I'm going to give you a little advice. Study harder!