My Battle With Grammar
View all entries from My Battle With Grammar >
Belarus
April 6, 2008
Today I drill myself on quantifiers.
These are some points that I find important:
few/a few
Few refers to countable nouns. Few or very few emphasises a small number:
I know few English words so I can't understand you.
A few and quite a few emphasises positive meaning:
I know quite a few English words therefore I can teach you some of them.
little/a little
Little refers to uncountable nouns. And as in case with few little and a little have negative (small quantity) and positive meaning, respectively:
We have little bread left. You must buy some.
and
We have a little bread left. You don't need to go to the store.
! We cannot say quite a little. To emphasise the positive we use quite a bit!
There's quite a bit time left. We can do some sightseeing.
These are some points that I find important:
few/a few
Few refers to countable nouns. Few or very few emphasises a small number:
I know few English words so I can't understand you.
A few and quite a few emphasises positive meaning:
I know quite a few English words therefore I can teach you some of them.
little/a little
Little refers to uncountable nouns. And as in case with few little and a little have negative (small quantity) and positive meaning, respectively:
We have little bread left. You must buy some.
and
We have a little bread left. You don't need to go to the store.
! We cannot say quite a little. To emphasise the positive we use quite a bit!
There's quite a bit time left. We can do some sightseeing.
More entries: I've passed my Masters!!! (3), My new lesson (2), Foreign Words and Phrases (10), Are you a true maniac? (5), I'm super great! (3), Frustration... (4), Suggestions, Conditionals (2), Quantifiers, Articles