Lesson Nine
a few / a little
Few is used with count nouns: a few = 3-4 few = a small amount | |
Q: How many cars are there? A: There are just a few. (a few = 3 or 4) |  |
| There are a few bananas on the table. |  (a few = 3 or 4) |
She’s sad because she has very few friends. (This means she doesn’t have many friends. Notice there is no article. “A few” means something different. |  |
Few people were at the meeting. She expected 20, but only three came. (In this example and the one above, the situation is not good.) |  |
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Little is used with non count nouns a little / little = a small amount | |
He dropped a little paint on his wife’s head. You can also use… a little bit of He dropped a little bit of paint on his wife’s head. |  |
| There’s a little snow on the road and on the ground. |  |
He got very little sleep last night. (Notice that “sleep” is a noun in this sentence. “A little sleep” is a small amount of sleep, and “little sleep” is not very much sleep or no sleep.) |  |
Q: Did she find what she was looking for in the newspaper? A: No. There was very little information. |  |
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Practice
Part A.
Directions: Fill in the blank with “a few” or “a litttle.” (20 points)
1. She has ___________ money in her purse.
2. There are ___________ people in the store.
3. Please get ___________ oranges when you go to the store.
4. I have ____________ fruit with me if you’re hungry.
5. They bought ____________ books at the bookstore.
6. There were quite ___________ children on the playground.
7. Here’s ____________ information about Mount Rushmore.
8. It took _____________ hours to drive to the campground.
9. I need ____________ bucks. Can you lend me some money?
10. All but _____________ of the guests got sick after the party.
11. ___________ patience is all we need to get through the day.
12. This sitution is _____________ embarassing.
13. Call me back in ____________ minutes.
14. The movie was good for ____________ laughs.
15. We can all use ___________ laughter.
16. This soup needs ____________ salt.
17. There were quite ____________ bees outside this morning.
18. I saw ____________ deer in the woods this morning.
19. Can you give me ____________ help?
20. How about __________ coffee? Do you want some?
Part B.
Directions: Fill in the blank with “few” or “little.” Notice the meanings of these words are different from those in Part A. (20 pts)
1. My boss has __________ patience for employees who are late.
2. In high school she had very ____________ friends.
3. There are __________ good schools in that city.
4. We have ____________ time to waste. Let’s go now.
5. She feels very ___________ sympathy for the poor.
6. There are too ___________ buses at this time of the day.
7. __________ people showed up at the party.
8. This is too ___________, too late.
9. The houses here are __________ and far between.
10. Very __________ marriages last longer than 50 years.
11. ___________ effort went into the production and it showed.
12. There was so __________ competition in the race, he won easily.
13. There are very ___________ fish in this part of the lake.
14. They put very ____________ sugar in these cookies.
15. ___________ bacteria can survive these kinds of temperatures.
16. The students put too ___________ effort into their homework.
17. ____________ shopping malls are open on Christmas day.
18. I know this is ____________ comfort, but I’m sorry.
19. There are ____________ women with her qualifications.
20. He gets ___________ exercise, so he’s put on a lot of weight.