few a few 接可数名词复数,little a little 接不可数名词。 a few a little 表示肯定意思,有一些、有一点。 few, little 表示否定意思,没有一些;没有一点。
例如,She has a few friends in school.她在学校有一些朋友。There is a little oil in zhe dish.菜里有油。She has few friends in school.她在学校没有朋友。There is little oil in zhe dish.菜里没有一滴油。little 和 few意为很少或几乎没有,具有否定意义。There was little time for consideration.几乎没有时间思考。Few towns have such splendid trees.有这么好看的树木的城市不多。
few 和 a few 虽然只差一个 a, 但意思几乎完全相反。比如:I have a few friends in the government. (我在政府里认识些朋友),也就是我“上面有人”。但如果你说:I have few friends in the government. 那就说明你在政府里不认识什么人。
所以,few 就是“很少,几乎没有”,而 a few 则表示“有一些”,它们都是形容词,修饰可数名词(countable nouns)。
例句:
(1)There are a few things I need to buy.
我得买些东西。
(2)There are few things I need to buy.
我不需要买什么东西。
再看看 a little 和 little,其实用法跟 a few 和 few 类似。区别就在于 a little 和 little 只能修饰“不可数名词”(uncountable nouns)。
例句:
(1)There is a little water in the bottle.
瓶子里还有一些水。
(2)There is little water in the bottle.
瓶子里几乎没水了。