What’s the difference between few and a few / little and a little?
A few and a little mean some. Few and little (without the indefinite article) have a negative meaning. They mean almost none and are used to say that the quantity of a thing is not as much as we would like.
Note also that few/a few are used with plural nouns, but little/a little are used with uncountable nouns.
Check out the following examples:
- All she wanted was a few moments on her own. (= some; moments = plural noun)
- She had few moments on her own. (= almost none - she would like to have more)
- She saves a little money every month. (= some; money = uncountable noun)
- They had little money to spend. (= almost none - they would like to have more)
For more details on all of this, please read this useful article.
