Que signifient few, little, a few et a little?

FEW et LITTLE sont des déterminants et A FEW et A LITTLE sont des quantifieurs que l’on emploie pour exprimer de petites quantités.

Le choix entre FEW et LITTLE se fait en fonction du nom qu’ils accompagnent, selon que c’est un nom dénombrable (que l’on peut compter) ou indénombrable (que l’on quantifie).

1. Avec les noms dénombrables

On peut compter les noms dénombrables: cars, people, friends…

➤ Avec les noms dénombrables, on emploie HOW MANY…? pour questionner le nombre:

• How many cars can you see?

  haʊ ˈmɛni kɑːz kæn juː siː
  Combien de voitures vois-tu?

• How many people are invited to the event?

  haʊ ˈmɛni ˈpiːpl ɑːr ɪnˈvaɪtɪd tuː ði ɪˈvɛnt
  Combien de personnes sont invitées à l’événement?

• How many friends do you have on Facebook?

  haʊ ˈmɛni frɛndz duː juː hæv ɒn ˈfeɪsˌbʊk
  Combien d’amis as-tu sur Facebook?

➤ FEW exprime un petit nombre de noms dénombrables = Peu de…

• There are few cars in the street.

  ðeər ɑː fjuː kɑːz ɪn ðə striːt
  Il y a peu de voitures dans la rue.

• Few people know the answer.

  fjuː ˈpiːpl nəʊ ði ˈɑːnsə
  Peu de gens connaissent la réponse.

• Few friends of mine are musicians.

  fjuː frɛndz ɒv maɪn ɑː mjuːˈzɪʃənz
  Peu de mes amis sont musiciens.

➤ A FEW renvoie au fait que le nombre est faible, mais supérieur à 1 = Quelques…

• I have owned a few cars in my life.

  aɪ hæv əʊnd ə fjuː kɑːz ɪn maɪ laɪf
  J’ai possédé quelques voitures dans ma vie.

• Just a few people registered.

  ʤʌst ə fjuː ˈpiːpl ˈrɛʤɪstəd
  Seulement quelques personnes se sont inscrites.

• I have a few friends working in real estate.

  aɪ hæv ə fjuː frɛndz ˈwɜːkɪŋ ɪn rɪəl ɪsˈteɪt
  J’ai quelques amis qui travaillent dans l’immobilier.

Les collocations à connaître: 

a few times = quelques fois

• I have already seen that film a few times.

  aɪ hæv ɔːlˈrɛdi siːn ðæt fɪlm ə fjuː taɪmz
  J’ai déjà vu ce film quelques fois.

a few days ago = Il y a quelques jours

• Joe returned from his trip a few days ago.

  ˈʤəʊ rɪˈtɜːnd frɒm hɪz trɪp ə fjuː deɪz əˈgəʊ
  Joe est rentré de voyage il y a quelques jours.

quite a few = pour insister sur le fait que ce n’est vraiment pas la première fois.

• I have been there quite a few times.

  aɪ hæv biːn ðeə kwaɪt ə fjuː taɪmz
  J’y suis allé un petit paquet de fois.

2. Avec les noms indénombrables

On ne peut pas compter les noms indénombrables.

Ils doivent être quantifiés à l’aide d’une unité spécifique selon le nom: (a bottle of / a liter of / a glass of) water, (a bunch of, a bag of) money, (a kilo of / a tablespoon of / a cup of) sugar…

➤ Avec les noms indénombrables, on emploie HOW MUCH…? pour questionner la quantité = Combien / Quelle quantité de…

• How much water do you drink every day?

  haʊ mʌʧ ˈwɔːtə duː juː drɪŋk ˈɛvri deɪ
  Combien / Quelle quantité d’eau bois-tu chaque jour ?

• How much money does she earn?

  haʊ mʌʧ ˈmʌni dʌz ʃiː ɜːn
  Combien d’argent gagne-t-elle?

• How much sugar should I add?

  haʊ mʌʧ ˈʃʊgə ʃʊd aɪ æd
  Combien de sucre dois-je ajouter?

➤ LITTLE exprime une petite quantité de noms indénombrables = Peu de…

• There’s little water left in the bottle.

  ðeəz ˈlɪtl ˈwɔːtə lɛft ɪn ðə ˈbɒtl
  Il reste peu d’eau dans la bouteille.

• I only have little money left.

  aɪ ˈəʊnli hæv ˈlɪtl ˈmʌni lɛft
  Il ne me reste que peu d’argent.

• I eat very little sugar.

  aɪ iːt ˈvɛri ˈlɪtl ˈʃʊgə
  Je mange très peu de sucre.

➤ A LITTLE renvoie au fait que la quantité est faible = Un peu de…

• The plants on the balcony need a little water every day during summer.

  ðə plɑːnts ɒn ðə ˈbælkəni niːd ə ˈlɪtl ˈwɔːtər ˈɛvri deɪ ˈdjʊərɪŋ ˈsʌmə
  Les plantes sur le balcon ont besoin d’un peu d’eau tous les jours en été.

• Earning a little more money wouldn’t hurt.

  ˈɜːnɪŋ ə ˈlɪtl mɔː ˈmʌni ˈwʊdnt hɜːt
  Gagner un peu plus d’argent ne ferait pas de mal.

• Just add a little sugar and it will be perfect.

  ʤʌst æd ə ˈlɪtl ˈʃʊgər ænd ɪt wɪl biː ˈpɜːfɪkt
  Ajoutez juste un peu de sucre et ce sera parfait.

3. A LITTLE comme adverbe

On peut employer A LITTLE comme adverbe avec des verbes et d’autres adjectifs

Dans ce cas, cela signifie: dans une moindre mesure, à un certain degré…

• You should work a little less and get some rest.

  juː ʃʊd wɜːk ə ˈlɪtl lɛs ænd gɛt sʌm rɛst
  Tu devrais travailler un peu moins et te reposer.

• He was a little frustrated after the game.

  hiː wɒz ə ˈlɪtl frʌsˈtreɪtɪd ˈɑːftə ðə geɪm
  Il était un peu frustré après le match.

➤ Souvent on emploie A LITTLE BIT. C’est la même chose que A LITTLE.

• She has been practising a little bit more since the lockdown.

  ʃiː hæz biːn ˈpræktɪsɪŋ ə ˈlɪtl bɪt mɔː sɪns ðə ‘lɒkdaʊn
  Elle s’entraîne un peu plus depuis le confinement.

• I am a little bit hungry. Fancy some dinner?

  aɪ æm ə ˈlɪtl bɪt ˈhʌŋgri    ˈfænsi sʌm ˈdɪnə
  J’ai un peu faim. Ça te dit d’aller dîner ?

Exercice

Compléter avec LITTLE, A LITTLE, FEW ou A FEW

1/ Peu de mes amis portent des lunettes.
____ of my friends wear glasses

2/ J’ai besoin d’un peu plus de temps
I need ____ more time

3/ J’ai vu Sarah il y a quelques jours.
I saw Sarah ____ days ago.

4/ J’ai généralement besoin de peu d’aide.
I generally need ____ help.

5/ Quelques uns de mes amis viennent dîner ce soir.
____ friends of mine are coming over for dinner tonight.

Réponses

1/ FEW

2/ A LITTLE

3/ A FEW

4/ LITTLE

5/ A FEW

Les autres fiches de grammaire anglaise pour niveau débutant :

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Few e little

Carla Muniz

Professora licenciada em Letras

Few e little são quantifiers (quantificadores). O significado de few é poucos; poucas e o significado de little é pouco; pouca.

Usamos os quantificadores quando queremos fazer referência à quantidade de algo.

Antes de usarmos few e little, é importante verificarmos se o substantivo ao qual queremos nos referir é countable (contável) ou uncountable (incontável), pois few é usado com contáveis e little, com incontáveis. Veja um resumo na imagem abaixo.

IMPORTANTE: nem todos os substantivos contáveis da língua portuguesa são contáveis na língua inglesa. É preciso ter atenção para que o uso de little e few seja feito corretamente.

Confira a explicação abaixo e saiba como usar few e little.

Quando usar few e little

Saiba quando usar little e few e entenda a diferença entre os dois quantificadores.

Uso de few

A palavra few é usada com substantivos contáveis e significa poucos, poucas.

Exemplos:

• I know few people that would help. (Conheço poucas pessoas que ajudariam.)
• She has few friends. (Ela tem poucos amigos.)
• There are few employees at the company now because of the strike. (Há poucos funcionários na empresa agora por causa da greve.)

Observe que o uso de few indica uma conotação de certa forma negativa, ou seja, a palavra pouco acaba por estar associada a uma quantidade insuficiente de algo.

IMPORTANTE: o substantivo usado após a palavra few deve estar sempre flexionado no plural.

Veja também:

Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Uso de a few

Quando queremos indicar que há pouca quantidade de um determinado substantivo contável sem que essa quantidade necessariamente represente a ideia de insuficiência, de que a quantidade poderia ser maior, podemos usar a few.

A few também significa poucos; poucas. A diferença entre a few e few é:

• Few = poucos; insuficiente; poderiam ser mais
• A few = poucos; alguns; contrário de muitos. Funciona quase que com o mesmo sentido de “alguns”.

Exemplos:

• Few students solved that Math problem. (Poucos alunos resolveram aquele problema de matemática.) – poderiam ter sido mais alunos a conseguir.
• A few students solved that Math problem. (Alguns alunos resolveram aquele problema de matemática.) – não foram muitos os alunos que conseguiram.

Uso de little

A palavra little é usada com substantivos incontáveis e significa pouco ou pouca.

Exemplos:

• She put little milk in the jar. (Ela colocou pouco leite na jarra.)
• He drinks little water during the day. (Ela bebe pouca água durante o dia.)
• I have little money. (Eu tenho pouco dinheiro.)

IMPORTANTE: o substantivo usado após a palavra little deve estar sempre no singular.

Uso de a little

Quando queremos indicar que há pouca quantidade de um determinado substantivo incontável sem que essa quantidade necessariamente represente a ideia de insuficiência, de que a quantidade poderia ser maior, podemos usar a little.

A little também significa pouco; pouca. A diferença entre a little e little é:

• Little = pouco; insuficiente; quasa nada; poderia ser/ter mais.
• A little = um pouco; algum; contrário de muito.

Exemplos:

• I have little money. (Tenho pouco dinheiro) – tenho uma quantidade insuficiente; poderia ter mais.
• I have a little money. (Tenho algum/um pouco de dinheiro) – não tenho muito dinheiro.

Veja também:

How much e how many

Vídeo

Assista o vídeo abaixo e veja mais alguns exemplos de como usar few, little, a few e a little.

Veja também:

Much e many

Exercícios

Faça os exercícios abaixo e teste seus conhecimentos sobre o uso dos quantificadores.

1. (EPCAR/2015) “There are a few ways to prevent cyberbullying” (line 31) is the same as

a) There are some ways to prevent cyberbullying.
b) There are many ways to prevent cyberbullying.
c) There are lots of ways to prevent cyberbullying.
d) There are no ways to prevent cyberbullying.

Ver Resposta

Alternativa correta: a) There are some ways to prevent cyberbullying.

2. (Escola Naval/2010) Analyse the sentences below. Which alternative is correct?

a) A little people passed the exam because it was too difficult.
b) Few people passed the exam because it was too difficult.
c) Much people passed the exam because it was too difficult.
d) Many people passed the exam because it was too difficult.
e) A lot of people passed the exam because it was too difficult.Parte inferior do formulário

Ver Resposta

Alternativa correta: b) Few people passed the exam because it was too difficult.

3. (EsFCEx/2010) Choose the alternative that correctly completes the sentences below in the right order:

We don’t have __________ money, just __________ reais. Let’s take only __________ milk.

a) many – few – a few
b) much – a few – some
c) a lot of – many – few
d) few – some – many
e) many – few – some

Ver Resposta

Alternativa correta: b) much – a few – some

4. (EFOMM/2011) Choose the option which completes the sentences below correctly:

It is ________ use trying to change her mind.
Slowly, ___________children began coming to school.
Unfortunately, he had __________ friends.
Could you possibly give me ___________ help?

a) a little/a few/few/little
b) a little/a few/little/little
c) a little/few/few/a little
d) little/few/little/a little
e) little/a few/few/a little

Ver Resposta

Alternativa correta: e) little/a few/few/a little

Veja também: Comidas em inglês (food)

Carla Muniz

Professora, lexicógrafa, tradutora, produtora de conteúdos e revisora. Licenciada em Letras (Português, Inglês e Literaturas) pelas Faculdades Integradas Simonsen, em 2002.