How to use quantifiers in English

I’ve seen a few people today.

I’ve seen few people today.

Hello, hello, guys.

It’s Maria.

In the last video,

I explained some expressions to talk about quantity,

but if you haven’t watched it yet,

you can click on the link in the description below.

Today, as promised,

I’ll explain the difference between a few and a little,

and few and little.

These are sometimes difficult

because they are all quantifiers that talk about a small number

or amount of things.

The difference between them comes from the speaker’s

intention, and the meaning

of these quantifiers is a little bit different.

We use little, a little, few,

and a few when the quality is small or we lack something.

We often use a few and a little in a positive way.

Quite often, a little

or a few means something similar to some.

We want to indicate,

for example, that a small amount or quantity is enough

or suggest it’s more than we would expect.

I must go now, I have a little work to do.

You probably don’t intend to highlight anything

in particular here,

just the fact that you have some work to do.

On the other hand,

few and little are often used when you want to highlight

the low number of something in a negative way,

for example, to say

that a small quantity or amount is not enough.

There was little work to do, so I didn’t earn much money.

Remember this use of few

and little is often for more formal contexts though.

Let’s compare more examples so you get a clearer idea.

This sweater comes in a few colours.

This sweater comes in few colours.

Ana has a little time for her lunch.

Ana has little time for her lunch.

All right, guys, it’s time to have some practice.

Some sentences will appear on the screen

and you will have to complete them with few or a few

if they are countable,

little or a little if they are uncountable,

and of course, to choose

the best option according to the meaning and context.

Remember to check the answers at the end of the video,

and tell us in the comments below

if you got them right.

Hope this video has been useful, guys,

and that the difference between few, little and a few,

a little, is clearer now.

Thanks a lot for watching it,

and don’t forget to subscribe and watch more videos

on the channel.

Stay safe.

Bye.