A FEW and FEW

A FEW and FEW :




Imagine a speaker at a company meeting starting his presentation with the words: 'I have few things to tell you."


You wonder to yourself: "Why have I taken the trouble of coming to listen to you if you have nothing much to tell us?"


Now, why did you think this way?


Simply because the word 'few' without the 'a' means 'hardly any'.


When you say: "I have a few things to tell you", it means that you have 'some' things to tell them.


The same applies to 'little' and 'a little'.


E.g. "There is a little water in the glass."


This means that there is 'some' water and possibly you mean that it is sufficient for your purpose.


However, if you say: "There is little water in the glass", you mean that there is 'hardly any'water in the glass and it is not sufficient for your purpose.


So, 'few' or 'little' are negative and mean 'hardly any', suggesting absence of something, whereas 'a few' and 'a little' are positive and mean 'at least some', suggesting presence of something.


Caution for MBA aspirants: If you are asked about your qualities in the interview, do notsay: "I have few qualities"



































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