What is the difference between few and a few

Marko Ticak. Few is a quantifier used with plural countable nouns. Adding the article removes the emphasis— a few means some. The same rule applies to little , which is used with singular uncountable nouns. Grammar What Are Modal Verbs? Writing, grammar, and communication tips for your inbox.

Write with confidence. This sounds positive. She does not make many mistakes. However, if Mary had made a few mistakes in her life, then it means she has made two or three a couple, close to several mistakes. She has made mistakes.

This sounds more negative. Imagine that a student named Carlos has just moved to Toronto. He has been there for three days but he has already made three friends. What would you say in this situation? Now, imagine that another student, Jose, who is very shy, has been in Toronto for a year.

Despite this, he has only made three friends. What would you say? Can you see the difference? Jose has not made many friends. This means he has made few friends. On the other hand, Carlos has already made three friends.

He has a few friends. The only difference is a little and little are used with uncountable nouns e. The few is quite rare, and used only when designating a small number of things or people that have some special distinction the few rounds left in their magazines, the few guests who escaped the fire There's a big difference between few and a few , however.

Thank heavens that a few people were hurt! Improve this answer. Community Bot 1. John Lawler John Lawler In terms of your first two examples, which are really related to this concept of how you should use 'a few' or simply 'few': - If you say "I have a few problems" it is different in meaning to saying "I have few problems" In the first you could read it as "I have some problems" In the second the emphasis is on the 'few' - so you could read it as "I only have a few problems".

When you omit the 'a' you are emphasizing the 'few' in the sentence. Or start by looking at this related question: definite or indefinite article.

Gary Gary 9, 2 2 gold badges 21 21 silver badges 47 47 bronze badges. Featured on Meta. Q: What is the difference between "few" and "a few"? Answer Follow this Question. Answer: Both the terms "few" and a few" technically refer to more than one, so some people use them interchangeably, assuming they mean the same, but that is not correct.

Related reading: 18 Common writing mistakes on social media Scientific writing: "A number of" and "The number of".

Answered by Editage Insights on 02 Sep, Resources for authors and journals. Upvote this Answer 16 Comment.