A few - a little

Quantifiers are adjectives and adjectival phrases that give approximate or specific answers to the questions How much? and How many?.

Sorry, but there isn’t much left for you to do here

To answer the questions How much? and How many? certain quantifiers can be used with countable nouns (chairs, apples), while others can be used with uncountable nouns (tea, money).

How many cousins do you have? (countable)
How much money did you spend? (uncountable)

Note that how much can also be used when we want to know the price of something. In this case, we can use how much with countable nouns (both singular and plural nouns).

How much does this dress cost?

A few, a little, (very) few, and (very) little are generally used in affirmative statements, not negatives or questions.

Look at the following table demonstrating the differences between a few, a little, (very) few, and (very) little.

Used with countable nouns (chairs, apples)	Used with uncountable nouns (tea, money)
(very) few = hardly any or not enough I’ve got (very) few* friends. I need to be more outgoing.*	(very) little = hardly any or not enough We have (very) little* tea left. I doubt that it will be enough for 6 cups of tea.*
a few = some or enough I know that I’ve got a few* friends but they’re the best!*	a little = some or enough We have a little* tea left. Shall I make you some tea then?*

Guided Practice#

.................... days are there in May?
.................... time do we have left?

My sister has .................... books. She doesn't like reading.

Thomas spoke .................... English, so it was difficult to have a conversation with him.

Even though there were only .................... houses, the village looked welcoming.

Thomas spoke .................... English, so we managed to talk for a bit with him.

Short Story using Quantifiers a Few a Little#

-Jane is so lucky! She has few problems the Spanish.

-Well, she's been studying for 4 hours a day for the past 3 years. So it's not like she does very little work.

-Yeah, but still she has such a great result! On the other hand, I make a few mistakes and people can't understand what I'm saying. It's so frustrating!

-Then you have to study more!

Independent Practice#

Fill in the gaps with a few, a little.

There is .................... water in the kettle.
We had .................... snow last winter.
There were .................... students in the room.
I have .................... relatives living nearby.
I speak .................... Italian.

Fill in the gaps with few, little.

Sorry, but I've been very busy lately. I have .................... free time.
This is a very modern city so there are .................... old buildings.
Amy isn't very popular. She has .................... friends at school.
I have very .................... ideas. I doubt I can help you.
She drinks very .................... water during the day.