Lesson 14--Few and a few

These expressions are used with countable nouns.

 

a few--a small number, in the positive sense.

e.g.      I have a few minutes, so I can help you.

            I have a few dollars, so I can get a cup of coffee.

These expressions can be modified by adding "quite"--making the number bigger.

e.g.      I have quite a few friends, so I have to send a lot of Christmas cards.

            I have quite a few vacation days.  I can go anywhere.

few--a small number, in the negative sense

e.g.      I have few minutes, so I can't help you.

            I have few dollars in my pocket, so I cannot afford a cup of coffee.

These expressions can be modified by adding "very" making the number much smaller.

e.g.      I can only take short trips because I have very few vacation days.

            The hotel was almost empty because there were very few people staying there.

 

 

Quiz

Complete the quiz by adding "few" or "a few"

1. I doubt anyone heard me because there were so _____ people around.
2. He wanted to talk to me because he had _____ questions.
3. Do you have _____ minutes to spare?
4. As a snack, I ate _____cookies.
5. We had _____ options, so we decided to take a big risk.
6. He's a bit of a loner and has _____ friends.
7. She failed the examine because she spent _____ hours studying.
8. James had _____ bottles of beer while watching the game.
9. With _____ colleagues, Janice was able to solve the problem.
10. He got to the airport with very _____ minutes to spare.