Grammar · Free lesson
Few or a few? Show how you view a small number
Three volunteers have offered to help at your small stall. That is enough for this particular job. You want to reassure the organizer that you have some help available.
Professor Scott MendozaMeaning in this lesson
few and a few
Expressions for a small number of countable things, with different emphasis.
Example
“We have a few volunteers, but we still need more.”
Some people are available. That small number is not enough for this job.
The short answer
Few and a few both refer to a small number. Few emphasizes how small that number is: “Few people offered to help.” A few emphasizes that there are some: “A few people offered to help.” A few does not automatically mean enough, and few does not necessarily mean zero.
A few points to what you have. Few highlights how small the number is.
Use these expressions with plural countable nouns: few volunteers, a few chairs, a few questions. Adding a changes the emphasis. “We have few volunteers” highlights a limited number. “We have a few volunteers” presents a small number as available. The situation tells you whether that number is enough.
Make the emphasis match your message.
Do we have anyone to help at the stall?
Yes, we have a few volunteers. Three people are enough for this stall.
A few introduces the available help. The second sentence, not a few by itself, tells us that three people are enough.
Choose the emphasis
Check the noun
Volunteers is plural and countable.
Emphasize available help
We have a few volunteers.
Emphasize scarcity
We have few volunteers. We may need to recruit more.
Try it now
Check what you’ve learned.
Read all answers and explanations
Which sentence emphasizes the scarcity of volunteers?
We have few volunteers.Few emphasizes how small the number is. A few presents a small number as some; many describes a large number.
Choose the complete phrase with a few.
a few questionsQuestions is a plural countable noun. Question is singular, and time in this quantity sense is uncountable.
“We have a few chairs.” Does that sentence alone tell us there are enough chairs?
No. We know there are some, but we need the situation to judge whether there are enough.A few means some in a small number. Five chairs might be enough for three guests but not for ten.
Put it into practice
Make the update reassuring.
Three volunteers are enough for this small stall. Change the emphasis to having some help available, and keep the rest of the message.
We have few volunteers, so we can run the stall.
See a model answer
We have a few volunteers, so we can run the stall.
The original sentence was grammatical. This revision changes its emphasis to fit the message you want the organizer to receive.
A little more clarity
Common questions
A few useful details before you move on.
Does few mean zero?
Not necessarily. It highlights a small number. If you need to say exactly zero, use no or none.
“Few students missed the class” does not tell you that nobody missed it.
Is a few always positive?
It emphasizes that some things exist, but those things can be unwanted. Do not confuse its grammatical emphasis with good news.
“We found a few errors” means we found some errors, not that the errors are welcome.
Take it into your day
Choose a few to present a small number as some. Choose few to emphasize scarcity. Explain separately whether that number meets your needs.
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