How and when are ‘a little’ and ‘a few’ used?

When little and few are used, it is essential to consider the countability of the noun referred to. Briefly speaking, the quantifier ‘a little’ (with and without the article ‘a’) is needed for small quantities with uncountable nouns. ‘A few’ (with and without the article ‘a’), on the other hand, requires countable nouns in the plural if the speaker wants to express a small number. Be careful, however: if you use ‘little’ and ‘few’ without ‘a’, the meaning changes. In detail, there are the following points to note:

• First, although these quantifiers are used with count and non-count nouns, the article ‘a’ has no influence on the corresponding noun:
  • Use of ‘a little’ and ‘a few’ in particular:
    • “I’ve got a little time left. Let’s have a coffee.”
      • with uncountable noun
    • “I’m going bowling with a few friends.”
      • with countable noun
  • Using ‘little’ and ‘few’, that is, without the article ‘a’ in detail:
    • “He gave me little information so I actually don’t know what to do.”
      • uncountable noun
    • “Only few tourists come during the rainy season because of the bad weather.”
      • countable noun
• And now compare the difference in meaning of both quantifiers with and without the use of the article ‘a’:
  • There is a difference in meaning between ‘few’ and ‘a few’:
    • “There are a few cars on the street. It may take a while to get there.”
      • The speaker wants to express that there are indeed some cars on the street.
    • “There are few cars on the street. You should get there in time without any problems.”
      • This time, the speaker wants to express that there are not many cars on the street; there is not much traffic.
  • Likewise, ‘little’ and ‘a little’ differ in the following way:
    • “I have a little money, and I can afford to go on holiday.”
      • In this statement, the speaker wants to express that there is some money left. The person is not broke.
    • “I have little money, and I can’t afford to go on holiday.”
      • Here, the speaker has almost no money.
• Information: In spoken language, it is relatively common to use ‘a bit of’ instead of ‘a little’. Accordingly, such examples occur very often:
  • “I think I have a bit of a problem with my computer.”
  • “How would you like your coffee? – With a bit of sugar, please.”

Usage of ‘a little’ or ‘a few’ – drop-down (difficulty: 2 of 5 – rather easy)

Choose either ‘a little’ or ‘a few’ for the gaps.

• Example: “There are ________ kids playing in the garden.” → “There are a few kids playing in the garden.”

You can check your results with the button below after you have finished. If you still need help with the topic, have a look at the usage of ‘a little’ and ‘a few’.

Further exercises and explanations referring to the topic ‘a little / a few’

The following exercises and explanations are related to the English quantifiers ‘a little’ and ‘a few’ and may also train your skills:

• Using the quantifiers ‘much, many’ and ‘lots of’
• Usage of the quantifiers ‘some’ and ‘any’
• Use and difference of ‘so’ and ‘such’
• List of exercises about tricky topics