Introduction
A few/a little in few/little so kvantifiktorji, ki lahko pomenijo ne dovolj [not enough] ali nekaj/dovolj [some/ enough].
Form
Uporaba teh kvantifikatorjih je odvisna od samostalnikov:
| Poitive Attitude | Negative Attitude | |
|---|---|---|
| Plural Countable | a few | few |
| Singular Uncountable | a little | little |
Example
- We have a few beautiful beaches for swimming.
Few beaches are suitable for swimming. - We can bake a cake! We have a little flour.
We can’t bake a cake! We have (very) little flour.
Use
A few in a little pomenita nekaj, dovolj. Kažeta, da je nekaj več od pričakovanega, ali da ostaja.
Few in little pomenita ne dovolj ali manj od pričakovanega. Kažeta, da ni veliko nečesa, da je nečesa premalo.
Summary
A few/few in a little/little vsi pomenijo nekaj [not enough].
- Množinski števni samostalniki: a few (pozitivno) in few (negativno).
- Edninski neštevni samostalniki: a little (pozitivno) in little (negativno).
Na primer:
— “I have a few pencils in my bag, I do not need to buy new ones.” / “I have few pencils in my bag, I have to buy new ones.”
— “There is a little milk in the fridge, we can make a cake.” / “There is little milk in the fridge, we need to go to the supermarket.”
Ko pred njimi stoji a, je pomen pozitiven in namiguje, da nekaj ostaja; brez člena namiguje, da ni veliko nečesa.
Ponovi to vsebino v delu {Form} in si poglej del {Example}, ki prikazuje rabo v kontekstu.