DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "A FEW AND FEW"

The Difference between ‘A few’ and ‘Few’ (Used with Countable Nouns)

Why did I decide to talk about that? My curiosity to know and clarify the difference between “A Few and Few” started when I helped to my friend to resolve his homework. I was on my bed doing nothing and I wanted to do something until my friend arrived; he was bored because he had one homework for some hours after and he wanted that I helped him with his homework because he didn’t have any idea about it…. He told me, can you help me with my homework, I don’t understand this topic, so I decided to helped him.

I have to confess that in the middle of the homework I was a little confused with that, because I wasn't really sure if I did it right, (but I tried to do it well) because on my mind there were some doubt, i didn't know about it.

Seeing that, I wanted to research more about it when he left of my room. And I found the right information to clarify the difference. This is the information that you can see and learn more about that difference.

A few = two or three / a couple
  • I have a few friends who speak Japanese.
  • I have met a few famous people in my life.
In these sentences, a few means two or three. A few is less than some but more than none. A few is used with countable nouns (friends, people).

Few = not many / almost none 
  • Mary has made few mistakes in her life.
This means that she has not made many mistakes in her life. 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. 


Here I leave this link, where you can practice with some exercises.

Comentarios