Correct usage: Little/a
little/few/a few
Few/little
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General word translation few/a few/little/a little – мало.
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Few used with countable nouns in plural form, little used with uncountable nouns
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Few and Little have a negative meaning “We don’t have enough of what we have to
complete the task”
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Few + plural countable nouns = not many ; not enough ; nearly no
Little + uncountable nouns = not much; not enough ; nearly no
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E.g:
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I can't help you. I speak little English - Я не могу помочь тебе. Я плохо говорю по-английски.
This man has few good friends - У этого мужчины мало хороших друзей.
There were very few people in the subway. - В метро было очень мало людей
A few/a little
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A few used with countable nouns in plural form, a Little used with uncountable nouns
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A few and a Little have a positive meaning and are synonymous with word “some” meaning
“Несколько” ”некоторое количество чего-то” ”немного, но достаточно”
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A few + plural countable nouns = some; a small amount
A little + Uncountable nouns = some; a small amount
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E.g:
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I speak a little English - Я немного говорю по-английски
This man has a few good friends - У этого мужчины есть несколько хороших друзей
She drank a little coffee and left.- Она выпила немного кофе и ушла
Only a few and only a little
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Only – used only before a few/a little.
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And it changes the positive meaning of the phrase back to negative
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E.g:
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I have only a few attempts left to finish this exam. – У меня не осталось достаточно попыток,
чтобы завершить этот экзамен.
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I only have a little flour, so I cannot make this cake. – У меня недостаточно муки, так что я не
смогу сделать этот торт.