Much/ many/ few/ a few/ little/ a little

(a) few (of), (a) little (of)

	positive	negative
(a) few (used with plural countable nouns)	· I’ve got a few close friends that I meet regularly. · A few of her songs were popular and she was very well known.	· He has few close friends and feels lonely. · Few of her songs were very popular and eventually she gave up her musical career.
(a) little (used with uncountable nouns)	· I have to go now, I have a little work to do. · We had a little money left, so we went out for a meal.	· There was little work to do, so I didn’t earn much money. · We decided to abandon our trip as we had little money left.

Ø A FEW (OF), A LITTLE (OF) are used in a ‘positive’ way; for example, to talk about a small amount or quantity, to indicate that this is enough, or suggest that it is more than we would expect.

Ø FEW (OF), LITTLE (OF) are usedin a ‘negative’ way; for example, to suggest that the amount or quantity is not enough, is surprisingly low. This use of few and little is often rather formal.

Ø We can also use few and little with the, her, my, etc. in a similar ‘negative’ way:

· She put her few clothes into a bag, and walked out of the house for ever.

· We should use the little time we have available to discuss Jon’s proposal.

Ø In speech or informal writing, it is more usual to use not many/much or only a few/little instead of few and little, and we often use a bit of in informal speech instead of a little:

· I won’t be long. I’ve only got a few things to get. (rather than ...got few things...)

· Sorry I haven’t finished, I haven’t had much time today. (rather than ...I had little time…)

· Do you want a bit of chocolate? (rather than ...a little chocolate?)

Ø In more formal contexts, such as academic writing, we generally prefer few and little:

· The results take little account of personal preference. (rather than ...don’t take much…)

·

Exercise 18. Complete the sentences with (a) few (of), (a) little (of), the few, or the little.

1. Although the play is set in Italy, ………. the characters are Italian.

2. Jim, Bill, Sue and Gill were just ……….those who came to say goodbye.

3. I saw him first ………. after midnight.

4. Unfortunately, much of the early history of Zimbabwe is still unknown. For example, we know ………. about the early patterns of settlement.

5. Because it was cheap, and we didn’t have much money, ……….us used to go to the cinema every Saturday morning.

6. It will take ……….time, but I’m sure you’ll learn the rules of cricket eventually.

7. Stephen and ………. his friends were waiting for us in the park.

8. The play was poorly attended, but ………. people who came had a very good evening.

9. Many questions were asked, but ………. were answered.

10. The soldiers seemed to have ………. idea who they were fighting against or why.

11. After the plane crashed in the desert, the survivors divided ……….water they had left between them.

12. I’d like to say ………. words about the performance.

13. I gave her ………. wine. (E. Bronte)

14. Could you spare me ………. minutes?

15. May I ask you ………. questions?  

One

    ONE can function as:

· a numeral;

· an indefinite noun-pronoun: stands for any person including the speaker or writer, synonymous with the less formal ‘you’. It has case distinction: the nominative and the genitive case;

· an indefinite adjective-pronoun: used with the meaning of ‘a certain’;

· a prop-word or replacive: stands for countable nouns. It has number distinction.

NOTE: the little one, the young one means ‘the child’; also the young of animals. 

 

Exercise19. Define the meaning and function of the pronoun one.

1. I made one stop in town and mentioned Guy in passing to the woman who runs the general store. (S. Grafton)

2. I promised mamma that I wouldn’t say one word to him, and I didn’t. (E. Bronte)

3. ‘Are you acquainted with the mood of mind in which, if you were seated alone, and the cat licking its kitten on the rug before you, you would watch the operation so intently that puss’s neglect of one ear would put you seriously out of temper?’ ‘A terribly lazy mood, I should say.’ ‘On the contrary, a tiresomely active one. It is mine, at present.’(E. Bronte)

4. Well, we must be for ourselves in the long run; the mild and generous are only more justly selfish than the domineering; and it ended when the circumstances caused each to feel that the one’s interest was not the chief consideration in the other’s thoughts. (E. Bronte)

5. Heathcliff had knelt on one knee to embrace her; he attempted to rise, but she seized his hair, and kept him down. (E. Bronte)

6. ‘Well,’ said the scoundrel, ‘we’ll not argue the subject now: but I have a fancy to try my hand at rearing a young one; so intimate to your master that I must supply the place of this with my own, if he attempt to remove it.’ (E. Bronte)

7. ‘But how can one little note –’ she recommenced, putting on an imploring countenance. (E. Bronte)

8. One day, as she inspected this drawer, I observed that the playthings and trinkets, which recently formed its contents, were transmuted into bits of folded paper. (E. Bronte)

9. ‘Can’t you block her number?’ ‘She doesn’t have one.’ (Terry McMillan)

10. It was hard to leave so many shining boots, but one must sacrifice something. (John Galsworthy)

11. ‘A good heart will help you to a bonny face, my lad,’ I continued, ‘if you were a regular black; and a bad one will turn the bonniest into something worse and ugly.’ (E. Bronte)

12. How mysterious women were! One lived alongside and knew nothing of them. (John Galsworthy)

13. One might as well have been named Morkin for all the covert it afforded! (John Galsworthy)

14. One could not be always fighting with her brother! (John Galsworthy)

15. It seemed to Val unspeakably disgusting to have one’s name called out like this in public! (John Galsworthy)

16. ‘She knows of my feeling for her, then,’ he thought. Of course! One could not keep knowledge of that from such a woman. (John Galsworthy)