Quantifiers: 'few', 'a few', 'little' and 'a bit of'

Quantifiers: 'few', 'a few', 'little' and 'a bit of'

Do you know how to use a few, few, very little and a bit of? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

Look at these examples to see how these quantifiers are used with countable and uncountable nouns.

I have a few friends, so I'm not lonely.
She has few friends, so she's quite lonely.
We've got a bit of time before our train. Shall we get a coffee?
We've got very little time before our train. Hurry up!

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Grammar test 1

Countable and uncountable nouns 2: Grammar test 1

Read the explanation to learn more.

Grammar explanation

A few and a bit of or a little mean some. Often we feel this amount is enough or more than we expected. We use a few with plural nouns and a bit of or a little with uncountable nouns.

I have a few ideas.
I've brought a few friends.
There's a bit of milk left.
It needs a little more work.

We use few and very little to show that we are talking about a small amount. Often we feel this amount is not enough or less than we expected. Few is for countable nouns and very little is for uncountable nouns.

Few people came to the meeting.
There are few places where you can still see these birds.
We have very little time.
I have very little money.

Note that you can use little without very, but it is less common and sounds quite formal.

She had little water.

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Grammar test 2

Countable and uncountable nouns 2: Grammar test 2

Average: 4.1 (55 votes)

Hello qurtubi,

'some' and 'a few' have very similar meanings. I'd say that 'some' is a little less specific than 'a few', which is often used to refer fewer items than 'some'. But both are very relative and so I'm afraid there is no specific number of items they refer to, because both can refer to groups that are relatively small (for example, the people in a class) or to millions (for example, the number of cars in a country).

In terms of grammar, 'some' can be used with both count and uncount nouns, whereas 'a few' can only be used with count nouns.

Hope this helps.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Zuu kyarr wan on Thu, 19/11/2020 - 03:10

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Can I write as “There are a few differences”? Thank you Zuu Kyarr Wan, English learner

Hello Zuu kyarr wan,

Yes, that's perfectly fine. You can also use 'few' without 'a', but the meaning is a little different:

There are a few differences = there are some

There are few differences = there are not many/I think there is only a small number

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Tanyang on Sun, 06/09/2020 - 20:18

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Brilliant learning Web, thanks so much.

Submitted by Tim_Bui on Fri, 21/08/2020 - 04:45

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Hi there, I found this sentence "Shall we get a coffee?". As I know "coffee" is an uncountable noun so why we use "a coffee"? Thanks.

Hello hamzahh,

Sometimes grammars say that 'a few' has a positive or optimistic meaning and 'few' has a more negative or pessimistic meaning. For example, if I say I have a few friends, it suggests that I'm happy with the number of friends I have. But if I say I have few friends, it suggests that I wish I had more friends than I do.

Does that help you make more sense of it?

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Ethan hunt on Wed, 24/06/2020 - 10:47

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Hello sir why there is need to revise grammer time to time
Profile picture for user Kirk Moore

Submitted by Kirk Moore on Wed, 24/06/2020 - 14:38

In reply to by Ethan hunt

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Hello Ethan hunt

There are many reasons, but one is that most of us often only partially understand what we learn at the time we learn it. As we encounter and practise using grammar, we often discover new aspects to it.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team