Learn when to use FEW vs. A FEW (in just 2 minutes!)

hello today's student question is when do we use few versus a few what's the difference I'm happy to explain it in today's ask the teacher video but before I begin remember you can download all the past ask the teacher lessons by clicking on the link under this video few has a negative connotation but a few has a positive connotation let's see some examples I'm not very popular I have few friends that's implying that my small number of friends is a bad thing I'm thrilled that I've already made a few friends at school in that sentence I still have a small number of friends but it's a positive connotation it's great that I have some friends instead of zero friends got it few it's small it's negative it should be more a few it's small but it's positive it's more than zero also how many is a few it could be around three to five items usually less than 10 it kind of depends on what we're talking about if I say I read a few books this month that's probably around three books since they take a while to read but if I say I ate a few potato chips that might be around 10 potato chips which is a small amount compared to eating 20 or 30 chips or more remember we use few and a few only with countable nouns with uncountable nouns we use little and a little in a similar way if I say I've been so busy I had little time to prepare for the talk little time has a negative connotation meaning not much or not enough but if I say I'm glad I had a little time to prepare for the talk before going on stage all little time has a positive connotation I'm glad I had some time more than zero hope that helps again click the link under this video to download this lesson and 30 more answers to student [Music] questions