Is the difference between few and little in English

English learners sometimes have difficulty understanding the difference between the words few and little . Both adjectives have the same meaning, little or few, but they are used in different circumstances that we show you below. If your goal is to learn to master English to perfection, knowing the use of each of these terms is essential, so in this article of .com we explain in detail what is the difference between few and little in English .

Few and little

FEW

Few is an adjective that translates as few or few, and always accompanies countable or plural nouns:

There were few people at the concert (There were few people at the concert)
I have few friends (I have few friends)

LITTLE

Little is an adjective that translates as little or little, and always accompanies countless or singular nouns:

She has made little progress (She has made little progress)
I have little money (I have little money)

Both words, when they go loose, have a negative meaning. They are translated as not much, not much, not many or not many, or Not as much as expected .

So the difference between few and little lies in that:

Few is translated in plural ( few, few ), and therefore always goes with plural nouns
Little translates into singular ( little, little ), and therefore always goes with singular nouns

A few and little

On the other hand, if a few and little we put the article ahead, these words will acquire a more positive sense than before. A few means a few or a few and a little a little .

Then, few and little indicate that there is not much of anything, but a few and a little indicate that there is enough even if it is not much. For example:

I have few friends (I have few friends / I do not have many friends) BUT I have a few friends (I have a few friends / I have some friends)
I have little money (I have little money / I do not have much money) BUT I have a little money (I have some money / I have some money)
There is little water (There is little water / Not much water) BUT There is a little water (There is a little water / There is some water)

Other terms that are prone to confusion

Learning English to perfection is not an easy task, which is why it is important to understand the differences between the terms that most commonly lend themselves to confusion, some of them are very common in everyday language. Once we have mastered these distinctions we will be able to speak more adequately reaching a high level of conversation.

That is why we have prepared a list of articles with which you can discover the difference between: