Look at these examples to see how these quantifiers are used with countable and uncountable nouns.
I have a few friends, so I'm not lonely.
She has few friends, so she's quite lonely.
We've got a bit of time before our train. Shall we get a coffee?
We've got very little time before our train. Hurry up!
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
A few and a bit of or a little mean some. Often we feel this amount is enough or more than we expected. We use a few with plural nouns and a bit of or a little with uncountable nouns.
I have a few ideas.
I've brought a few friends.
There's a bit of milk left.
It needs a little more work.
We use few and very little to show that we are talking about a small amount. Often we feel this amount is not enough or less than we expected. Few is for countable nouns and very little is for uncountable nouns.
Few people came to the meeting.
There are few places where you can still see these birds.
We have very little time.
I have very little money.
Note that you can use little without very, but it is less common and sounds quite formal.
She had little water.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Hello krollos,
A little bit can be used in several ways. The most common are:
Generally, a little bit is quite informal in style.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Aimee19,
Space is a singular noun. It can be an uncountable noun when we are talking about the general concept of an area (I need more space than this) or it can be a countable noun when we are identifying particular locations (My cat loves to lie in the spaces between our chairs).
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team