Learn English Grammar: FEW, LITTLE, A FEW, A LITTLE

Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid, and this is a grammar lesson. Now, this lesson will help

you to speak and to write more correctly in

English. What we're going to do today is we're

focusing on the difference between the two very

commonly confused words "few" and "little".

We're going to learn the difference between these two words, right, "few" and "little",

but we're also going to take it a step higher

to a more advanced level, and we're going

to learn the difference between "few" and "a

few", and "little" and "a little", because

if you didn't know that there's a difference,

you might be surprised to learn that there

is a big difference, alright? So, you will

learn all of that in this lesson, and it will

help you to make fewer mistakes when you're

communicating in English. So, let's get started.

So, first of all, what we need to understand

when we're talking about these words, "few"

and "little", is we need to understand the concept or the idea, which I hope that you

have learned already, about countable nouns and uncountable nouns. Now, in this lesson,

I'm not going to explain in detail about the

countable and uncountable nouns if you're

not sure what those are, then please check

another lesson, other lessons of mine, which

I have explained that in great detail. Go

back and watch that, but you can still watch

this here, because I'm going to give you a

basic explanation right now, but if you want

to be 100% sure, you can check my previous lessons, and you can also check a resource

that I've written specifically about countable

and uncountable nouns, which will really help

you to understand very, very clearly, because

lots and lots of mistakes are made over this

simple point of countable and uncountable nouns.

So, what is a countable noun? A noun, first of all, in this case, we're talking about

a person, place, or thing, or idea, or event.

Okay? Usually, people say a person, place,

or thing. If these are nouns, things that we can count, then we call them countable

nouns. For example, chairs, right? We can say

one chair, two chairs. And if we're talking

about people, places, or things that we cannot

count as such, or in English, are considered

something that we cannot count, then those are called uncountable nouns. For example,

furniture. Okay? So, we can say one chair and two chairs, but we cannot say the same

for furniture. Furniture just stays furniture.

You don't add an "s" at any time. It represents

that group. Okay? All right.

So, now, let's understand the difference between

"few" and "little" and how they work. So,

the word "few", first of all, means a little

bit. Okay? It means not too many, but it's

used for things which we can count. And "little"

is like this, right? A little. So, those are

used with the uncountable nouns. So, we would say,

for example, few chairs, but little furniture.

We would say a few computers. I have a few

computers in the office. And I have a little

equipment in my office. Now, right now, I'm not explaining yet the difference between

"few" and "a few" and "little" and "a little".

We will get to that, but first, let's just

understand this difference between when we use "few" and when we use "little". "Few"

is with anything we can count. "Little" is with anything we cannot count. Okay? So, we

say a few reports. I have to complete a few

reports. Or I need a little information. Reports,

we can count. Information, in English, we cannot count. We cannot add an "s" there to

any of these words. Okay? Next, I have a few

assignments to complete. Or I have a little

homework. We cannot add an "s" there. Okay? So, first and foremost, make sure that you

know the difference between the countable

nouns and the uncountable nouns. Know, second,

that we use "few" or "a few" with the countable

nouns, and we use "little" and "a little"

with the uncountable nouns. Okay? Got that?

Now, let's move to the next stage and understand

the difference between "few" and "a few" and

"little" and "a little". Okay. So, let's start

by looking first at the difference between

"a few" and "few". In this case, that little

word "a" makes a big difference. Let's understand

what that difference is. Okay? So, first of

all, if I'm saying "a few", it just means "some", a small number. Okay? And we said

that this is for... This is all with countable

nouns. Right? But if I say just "few", then

it means not enough, not many. Okay? Now, let's understand what that means. As soon

as you see the examples, you'll understand exactly what I mean. Let's start with the

first one. Okay? So, if I say "He has a few friends", what does it mean? He has a few

friends, he has some friends, he has a small

number of friends, but he's good with that,

he's happy. All right? He has a few friends,

nothing wrong. But if I say "He has few friends",

that actually means the opposite. It means the

way he feels, he doesn't have enough friends,

he wishes he had more friends. You understand?

It means not many, not enough, that's the

idea there. So, here, when we said "He has few

friends", that becomes an unhappy situation,

a negative. Here, he has a few friends, it's

a positive. Here, he has few friends, it's

a negative. Okay? So, you see how that little

word "a" can make such a big difference with

a few and also, as we're going to see in a few minutes, a little. Okay? But let's stay

here first. Let's look at another example. If I say "I have a few ideas", it means I

have some ideas. That's a positive, I'm happy.

Okay? But if I say "Oh, I don't know what

to do, I have few ideas", that's a negative because I wish I had more ideas. Right? I

don't have... I feel like I don't have enough

ideas, there's not many here, and I wish I

had more. Okay? See how the difference... See the difference there? Now it becomes a

negative. I have a few ideas, I'm happy. I have few ideas, I'm unhappy. Okay?

Alright, let's look at some more examples.

Now, these were with kind of, like, positive

words. Now let's look at what happens when

we're talking about words which are themselves

a little bit negative. Okay? Now we're getting

very nuanced and detailed. Let's understand.

If I say "He has a few problems", has some problems. Okay? But "problems" itself is a

negative word, so if I say "He has a few problems", that's not a good thing, that's

kind of like a sad thing, let's say, or negative

thing. Okay? "He has a few problems" is a

negative thing. But now look what happens.

Look at the magic here. If I say "He has few

problems", that means he doesn't have that many. That suddenly becomes a good thing.

Okay? He has few problems. Everything's alright

with him. Okay? So here, "few problems" became

a positive, but if I said "He has a few problems",

that becomes a negative. So it also depends

which word we're putting after "a few" and

"few". If it's kind of like a positive word,

then it has one meaning. If it's kind of like a

negative word, then it has a different meaning.

Let's take another example. If I say "He made

a few mistakes", okay? That's not good, it's

never great to make mistakes, so that's kind

of like a negative, right? See the frowny

face there. Okay? "He made a few mistakes",

he made some mistakes. But if I say "He made

few mistakes in his homework" or in his report,

that's a good thing. That means not very many.

Okay? Not many. So this becomes a positive. Do you see the difference between "a few"

and "few"? Do you see the difference in meaning?

Okay? So, again, let's just take the first

example. If I say "I have a few friends",

that's a good thing, I'm happy. But if I say

"I have few friends", I don't have enough. I wish I had more. Okay? Try it out, think

it through, write for yourself just now, or think for yourself, write a sentence about

yourself and say "I have a few something", even about friends, or "Do you have a few

friends?" or "Do you have few friends?" Do

you have a few? Did you make a few mistakes?

Or did you make few mistakes? Okay? Write something about yourself to sort of really

lock in the understanding of this word. Now,

let's look at "little" and "a little". It

works the same way.

So, now, let's just review. "A little" or

"little", we use with what? Uncountable nouns.

Okay? So, let's look at how that works. "A little" means some or a small amount, and

"little" means not enough or not much. Let's

look at the example so we understand clearly.

Okay? So, if I say "I have a little time before

my flight", that's a positive thing. So, "I

have a little time before my flight, I'm going

to get something to eat." Alright? That's

a positive thing. But if I say "I have little

time before my flight, I don't have time to

get anything to eat." Okay? That's a negative

thing. That means I have not enough time.

Okay? So, you see the difference there. "A little" is just like a neutral statement.

Alright? But this is usually something a little bit different.

Let's look at another example. "I had a little

sleep last night. I'm feeling better now."

That's a positive. But "I had little sleep last night. I'm so tired." Okay? So, this

becomes a negative, and again, "little" means

not enough in this case. And here, it just

means I had some sleep. It's fine. Everything's okay. Alright.

Now let's look when... What happens when the nouns

are actually a little bit negative themselves.

So, for example, "He had a little trouble

with his car." Okay? That's not a good thing.

Right? So he's not too happy there. You can see

that. But he has... "He's had little trouble

with his car since he bought it." That's a

good thing. Okay? He didn't have much trouble.

Let's look at another example. "She has a

little anger towards him." That's a negative.

Alright? "She has a little anger", she has some

anger, a small amount of anger towards him.

But if I said, "She has little anger towards

him", it's okay. She got over it. That means

she doesn't have much anger towards him. Okay?

So now you see that these words, "a little"

and "little" can have such a difference in

meaning. Right? And I hope that you're getting

it and understanding it and absorbing it. If you need to, you know, go back, watch it

again until it really sinks in and you get it. But now what we're going to do is we're

going to practice with a few examples and putting these words into sentences so that

they make sense. Let's do that.

Okay, so now let's practice together and apply

what you have learned so far. Okay? I'm going

to do it with you. No worries. Okay? So, we have eight sentences on the board. In the

first four, you have to add either "a few" or "few" because here we're talking about

countable things. And in the last four, you're

going to add "a little" or "little" because

here we're talking about uncountable things. Alright? Okay, so let's begin.

Now, what I've also done, you'll probably see all these faces here. Right? And some

are smiley faces and some are not. Some are

the opposite. So, when you see a smiley face,

you're going to say something positive. So,

for example, whenever there's a smiley face,

I'm going to say "fortunately" because in English, whenever we give some good news,

we say "fortunately". When we give some bad news, we say "unfortunately". Okay? Say it

after me. Fortunately. Unfortunately. Okay? Good.

So, let's get started. So, here, "Fortunately,

there were _______ doctors who could help us." Which one would you say? "Fortunately,

there were _______ doctors who could help us."

Okay? This is a good thing. Now, negative.

"Unfortunately, there were _______ doctors who

could help us." So, here, we're going to say

the opposite. "Unfortunately, there were few

doctors who could help us." So, when we said

there were a few doctors who could help us, we

were saying, oh, it's good. There are a few...

There are some doctors who can help us. When we

said there were few doctors who could help us,

it means there were not many doctors who could help

us. Okay? So, one is positive, one is negative.

And therefore, we're using "a few" or "few".

Next. This is not a happy situation, so we say,

"Unfortunately, we've had _______ issues with our computers." Let's see.

"Unfortunately, we've had a few issues with our computers." That's a good thing.

Oh, sorry. That's a bad thing. Right? "We've had

a few issues with our computers." That's not good.

You don't want to have a few issues with your

computers. Now, positive. "Fortunately, we've had..."

It's going to be the opposite. "Fortunately,

we've had few issues." Okay? "With our computers."

And that one means that's good. We didn't have

too many problems with our computers. Okay?

Alright. I hope you're still with me. Stay with

me. You will get it. Okay. Next, "a little" and

"little". So, let's say you're a French speaker,

and you're somewhere where they don't... Where

everybody speaks English, but you're really

looking for someone who speaks French. Okay?

And you meet some people, but then you... And you

say, "Okay. Fortunately, they speak _______ French."

You're happy. So, you say, "Fortunately, they

speak _______ French." Good. But then, the other

side, you could say, "Unfortunately, they don't

speak enough French." So, how do we say that?

"Unfortunately, they speak _______ French." Okay? Alright. Next, this is a good thing.

"Fortunately, she's made _______ progress." This is good. "Fortunately, she's made

_______ progress." Okay? And the last one, which is a negative, "Unfortunately",

you want to say here, "She hasn't made

enough progress." So, we say, "Unfortunately,

she's made _______ progress." Right? "_______

progress." Okay? What is "progress"? "Progress"

means moving forward. Now, you have made a lot of

progress. Okay? Today, by watching this lesson,

I really congratulate you. This is an advanced

lesson as far as this part goes. Okay? That first

part about countable, uncountable, that's pretty

basic. That's sort of a beginner and intermediate

point. But these are advanced points, so if you've

got it, that's amazing. It's going to make a

tremendous difference in your English. What could you

do now? Well, go to our website at www.engvid.com.

There, you can do a quiz and really review and

master this part. Okay? Next, subscribe to my

YouTube channel so you can continue to get lots

of interesting lessons like this that will help

you to improve your English level. And a third

thing you can do is check out my English course,

"Correct Your English Errors in 10 Minutes a Day",

and there, you'll find lots of points like this,

similar to this. Okay? Some are easier, some are

a little bit harder, and they... By making those

little corrections, your English will change

completely in a very easy, quick way because

the lessons are really short, just 10 minutes

a day. Okay? Thanks very much for watching,

and all the best with your English. Bye for now.