The quantifiers FEW and LITTLE

A few and few, a little and little

As the previous lesson,  a few (for countable nouns) and a little (for uncountable nouns) describe the quantity in a positive way

Few and little describe the quantity in a negative way.

More about few and little

1. (A) little, (a) few without a noun
We can use (a) little and (a) few as pronouns. We can use them to substitute for a noun when it is obvious from the context:

  • After that, she began to tell them a little about her life in Scotland, particularly her life with the Rosenblooms.
  • Don’t take all the strawberries. Just have a few. (Just have a few strawberries.)

Little and few are not very common without a noun. We use them in formal contexts.


2. (A) little of, (a) few of
We use of with (a) little and (a) few when they come before articles (a/an, the), demonstratives (this, that), possessives (my, your) or pronouns (him, them):

  • Put the flour into a bowl, blend with a little of the milk, beat in the egg yolks, then the sugar and the rest of the milk.
  • A few of his films were seen abroad.

3. A little: adverb
We use a little as an adverb of degree. It is more formal than a bit:

  • He smiled just a little.
  • Her hands were shaking a little.

4. A little with adjectives, determiners, adverbs

We use a little before adjectives and adverbs to modify them. It is more formal than a bit:

  • She seemed to be getting a little better.
  • What you need is a little more romance.

We often use a little with bit:

  • I find that a little bit hard to believe.

5. Little: adjective

We use little as an adjective to mean ‘small’:

  • ‘You’re going to have a little baby brother, Martha,’ her mother told her one day.
  • I know a little restaurant not far from here.

Little or small?

Little and small have similar meanings. We use small to refer only to size. We use little to refer to size, but also to express a positive emotion (especially with words like beautiful, lovely, wonderful):

  • He’s a small baby. (He’s smaller than average.)
  • He’s a lovely little baby. (He’s lovely and small.)
  • There’s a wonderful little café at the end of the street. (preferred to: There’s a wonderful small café at the end of the street.)