Unit 1: English In A Minute
Give us a minute and we'll give you English
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Session 68
Welcome to English In A Minute. Give us a minute and we'll give you a hot tip about English. Grammar, vocabulary... there's so much to learn! And all taught by your favourite BBC Learning English staff!
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Session 68 score
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- 0 / 3Activity 1
Activity 1
Few & A few
Do you have a minute to spare to learn some English? Saskia gives us a few tips on the difference between few and a few. Give us 60 seconds and we'll give you the English!
Watch the video and complete the activity
Saskia
Welcome everyone. Today we're going to look at the difference between few and a few.
Have a look at these two sentences. Which sentence has a more negative feeling?
- I have few friends.
- I have a few friends who live in London.
It was sentence number one right? When we use few, we're saying that the total number of something is not as many as we would like – that the number is small. Here, I'm telling you that I don't have many friends.
When we use a few, we're not talking about the total number, but a category of something. It has a similar meaning to 'some'. Here, I'm telling you that some of my friends live in London.
Just remember, we always use this with countable nouns only, so please be careful. See you next time!
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Did you like that? Why not try these?
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Few and A few
Countable nouns
Both few and a few are only used with countable nouns.
- There are few books written in that language any more.
- We have a few minutes.
- I have a few cans of beans. Are you hungry?
Few
Few means that the total number of something is not as many as we would like. The number is too small.
- I have few friends.
- There are too few people for a party.
A few
A few talks about a category of something. It's meaning is similar to 'some'.
- I have a few friends who live in London.
- Do you have a few cups I can borrow? I'm having a party today!
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To do
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English In A Minute Quiz
3 Questions
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Activity
Test your understanding of this lesson with our quiz!
Hint
Do we use 'few' or 'a few' with countable nouns?Question 1 of 3
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Activity
Test your understanding of this lesson with our quiz!
Hint
Does this person mean 'some' or 'not many'?Question 2 of 3
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Activity
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Hint
Remember, 'few' implies 'not enough' and 'a few' is 'some'.Question 3 of 3
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