[Grammar] Few, little, less, fewer

[pauljwest]

Hello everyone,
My first post here and looking for some help.

In the sentence,

Little remains of the old castle walls except the Black Gate.

i know that "Little" is correct in this sentence, i'm just having trouble explaining why to my student. Any help would be greatly appreciated. This sentence comes from the Cambridge Advanced Grammer In Use textbook second edition. It is a pretty common textbook. Unit 52.

Also, while i have your ear ,


She called her few remaining relatives together and told them she was leaving.


Same situation. i know few is correct here, just having trouble explaingin it. Any help would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks,
Paul

 

[bhaisahab]

Hello everyone,
My first post here and looking for some help.

In the sentence,

Little remains of the old castle walls except the Black Gate.

I know that "Little" is correct in this sentence, i'm just having trouble explaining why to my student. Any help would be greatly appreciated. This sentence comes from the Cambridge Advanced Grammer In Use textbook second edition. It is a pretty common textbook. Unit 52.

Also, while I have your ear ,


She called her few remaining relatives together and told them she was leaving.


Same situation. I know few is correct here, just having trouble explaingin it. Any help would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks,
Paul

In the first sentence "little" equals "not much".
Perhaps you could give them this definition of "few": http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/few_2

 

[pauljwest]

does this mean LITTLE is used for "not much" and FEW is used for "not many"??? adverb?? adjective?? now im getting a bit confused. again .. i know the answers.. just having trouble explaining it my students. thanks as always!!!!

 

[Peter Chan]

I am not a teacher

In the first sentence "little" equals "not much".

Perhaps you could give them this definition of "few": http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/few_2

I learnt "little" and "much" are used for uncountable nouns, the "s" in "remain" implies that "remains" is treated as countable.

Are there others reasons for using "little"?

 

[5jj]

the "s" in "remain" implies that "remains" is treated as countable.

'Remains' is not a noun; it is the third person singular form of the verb REMAIN.

 

[Rover_KE]

As an English teacher and native speaker, Paul, you must know that your post #3 is very badly written. Students and learners who read these threads expect teachers to set the highest standards of written English.

 

[Tdol]

does this mean LITTLE is used for "not much" and FEW is used for "not many"???

Yes- that's what they mean in your examples.