Usage of few

[ihop]

Hi All,

1. There are a few doctors in town.
2. He had few reasons for his opinion.

In the first sentence it has a few, but not in the second.

Why can't we say-- He had a few reasons for his opinion.?


Thanks.

 

[Nightmare85]

**Neither a teacher nor a native speaker.**

Hi ihop,
As far as I know they have different meanings:
Few = You wish you had more.
A few = You don't have many, but they are enough.
I have a few friends. (I don't need or want more friends.)
I have few friends. (I hope I will have some new friends soon.)

So in your example:
1. There are a few doctors in town. - It's okay, no one should die when s/he's sick.
2. He had few reasons for his opinion. - He wishes he had have more, but there weren't more. -> So his opinion wasn't taken that seriously by others.

Cheers!

 

[ihop]

Hi Nightmare85,

It makes a lot of difference then.

If I say "I have changed a few files"
Does that mean I knew total files that need to be modified.

And if I say "I have changed few files"
I guess, this means I modified some files and I am not sure if there are more to be modified. So, the other person should understand that he needs to tell me all the file names that I missed(Unless he doesn't know the difference between few and a few)

Please correct me if I misunderstood something.

 

[Nightmare85]

Hello ihop,
Yes, I believe you're right.
However, if you say, "I've changed few files." it sounds to me like:
"I was not able to change more files because..." (no time, no pleasure, etc.)

"I've changed a few files." -> This should be enough, everything should run flawlessy now.
(This is how I see it.)

Let's see what the others will say

Cheers!

 

[Barb_D]

Hi Nightmare85,

It makes a lot of difference then.

If I say "I have changed a few files"
Does that mean I knew total files that need to be modified.

And if I say "I have changed few files"
I guess, this means I modified some files and I am not sure if there are more to be modified. So, the other person should understand that he needs to tell me all the file names that I missed(Unless he doesn't know the difference between few and a few)

Please correct me if I misunderstood something.

No, not at all.

A few -- some. More than one, less than many. Not a specific number, but a small number.
Few -- also some, but it emphasizes the smallness of the number.
In both cases, you know how many (or roughly how many).

A few files were affected by the flawed program. -- This is simply a statement. More than one, fewer than scores.
Few files were affected by the flawed program. -- This is a good thing. Of all the files, a small number were affected.

Few can be good or bad.
She has few flaws. -- This emphasizes the smallness of the number. It's good to have a small number of flaws.
She has few redeeming qualities. -- This also emphasizes the smallness of the number, but it's bad.

 

[ihop]

Excellent examples. Thank you so much.

 

[Rover_KE]

Well done, Nightmare.

Your answers were excellent.

Rover