ToBE #10 : Too little is too much

We have already seen (in ToBE #5) how placing a word in different locations in a sentence changes the meaning of the sentence. In this issue, we will see a small example of how changing the preceding words changes the meaning.

The word is : few.

Put simply, it means 'a small number'. Some linguists, however, distinguish between 'few' and 'a few'.

Few:
Few people attended the meeting.
Choices are few.
In this context, 'few' is taken to mean a small, negligible number or 'almost none'.

A few:
A few people attended the meeting.
There are a few pieces left in the box.
'A few' represents a small quantity, 'some'.

Quite a few:
Quite a few people in our company know Java.
There are quite a few South Indian restaurants in Mumbai.
'Quite a few' means a large number. Interestingly, though 'few' and 'lot' have opposite meanings, 'quite a few' and 'quite a lot of' almost mean the same. That explains the subject of this issue!

An interesting link for English learners at this Grammar and Vocabulary room.
This has some useful pointers to good English and unfortunately, some errors as well.