When to use "a little" and "a few" | English grammar rules

hello everyone this is Andrew at Crown Academy of English today we are doing a grammar lesson and the subject is when do we use a little and when do we use a few so let's start so let us look at the situation where we are describing a small quantity of something there are a few peas there are a few peaches and there are a few raspberries okay so the first thing that we should look at is all of these nouns they are countable nouns a countable noun is a noun that is a separate object we can count a countable noun countable nouns can exist in the singular or the plural okay that is very important here of course they are all in the plural so the structure is we say there are a few peas so with countable nouns we only used the word a few okay and since the countable noun since here we are talking about the plural then the noun must be in the plural form so we add an S and also of course the verb must be in the plural form so we say there are and it is the same with peaches there are a few peaches it's accountable now in the plural so we add an S or ES in fact four peaches and the verb is also in the plural form and finally it is the same with raspberries we put the noun in the plural form which for raspberry it is adding IES we say a few because it is a countable noun and the verb also again we put it in the plural form there are so this gives us our first rule the rule is that we use a few to describe a small quantity of a countable noun okay so if the noun is a countable noun we must only use a few okay we do not use a little with countable nouns okay let's carry on there is a little pasta there is a little soup and there is a little sugar but this time all of these nouns they are on countable nouns okay uncountable nouns we cannot count on countable nouns they are not separate objects often they are a large mass of something or they are often a liquid and they exist only in singular only in the singular that is very very important so when we have an uncountable noun we must only use a little okay we do not use a few and since an uncountable noun can only be singular then the verb is singular so we say there is a little pasta we do not say there are a little pasta and the noun stays in the singular form okay there is no s here we never say pastas for example and it is the same here it is an uncut on uncountable noun so we use a little the noun stays in the singular there is no s and the verb is in the singular form that is and the same here sugar is an uncountable noun it is just a big mass of product so we use a little sugar stays in the singular and the verb is in the singular form there is so the rule is we only use a little to describe a small quantity of an uncountable noun okay that is very important so we do not use a little to describe a small quantity with a countable noun okay very important just something else which is important is a little we are not talking about the size okay we are not talking about the the size of the pasta for example we are talking about the quantity the small quantity okay because little is also an adjective but here we are not using it to describe the size we are using a little to describe a small quantity of an uncountable noun very important so to summarize this rule these two rules are easy it is easy to know when we use a little and when we use a few if we know the difference between an uncountable noun and accountable now okay so when you learn a new word when you learn a new noun you must also learn if it is countable or uncountable okay let's do an exercise I would like you to use a little or a few to describe the small quantity of these foods example so for this one the answer is there are a few lemons because lemon is countable okay so question one and I'll give you a few seconds well the answer is there is a little wine because wine is a liquid and liquids are often uncountable okay so wine stays in singular we use a little and the verb is in the singular question two and the answer is there are a few mushrooms there are a few mushrooms so mushroom is countable so we use the expression fu we put mushroom in the plural with an S and the verb in the plural question 3 there is a little bread because bread is uncountable so bread is singular we use a little because it is uncountable and the verb is singular to agree with the noun in the singular okay question four is different question four okay I would like you at home in your homes to now open your cupboard and look inside the cupboard and find four foods okay four foods which are in small quantity and I want you to describe them using a little or a few okay so an example my example is I open my cupboard and I see a little rice there is a little rice so that is my answer but I would like you to write your answer to question four in the comment section below the video please okay and if you do that then I will reply to your comment to your answer and I will tell you if your answer is correct or or if it is wrong okay so that way I can test I can test you and I can see if you have correctly understood the lesson okay so that is it it was quite a quick lesson this time but it is very important so if you would like to subscribe to my channel here is the subscription button subscribe button if you would like to learn a new word a vocab of vocabulary every day then you can follow me on Twitter here and here are some other examples on my channel this one is very useful very important because it explains in more detail the difference between countable and uncountable nouns okay so it gives you some advice on how to identify accountable now or an uncountable noun this one is a listening lesson and here we have a vocabulary lesson okay thank you very much for watching and for listening my name is Andrew at Crown Academy of English and I will see you very soon bye bye

Channel: Crown Academy of English

Views: 255,083

Keywords: a few and a little, a few, a little, countable nouns, uncountable nouns, determiners, english grammar rules, learn English grammar, english grammar lessons, english grammar, English lessons, grammar lessons, ESL, Crown Academy of English, English Language (Human Language), cours d'anglais, grammaire anglaise, IELTS online course

Id: 3D-30vFatQE

Length: 13min 32sec (812 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 28 2014