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
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
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