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little, a little与few, a few
   little和a little用来修饰不可数名词，但它们的意思不同。little是“很少”，“几乎没有”，含有否定的意思；a little是“一些”，“有一点”，含有肯定的意思。试比较：
   （1） I know alittle about the matter.
   这件事我知道一点。
   I know little about the matler.
   这件事我不大了解。
   （2） He has a little money left.
   他还剩下一点钱。
   He has little money left.
   他没剩下多少钱。
   （3） There is a little water left in the bottle.
   瓶子里还剩下有一点水。
   There is little water left in the pond.
   池子里没剩下多少水了。
   few和a few用来修饰可数名词，但它们的意思不同。few 是“很少数”，“几乎没有”，含有否定的意思，如few perple=a very small number; a few是“少极”，“有几个”，含有肯定的意思，如a few people=some people, but not very many．试比较：
   （1） I know a few of these people.
   这些人当中我认识几个。
   I' m sorry I know so few of these people.
   很抱歉，这些人我几乎一个也不认识。
   （2） Few people live to be 150, but a few people can live to be 100.
   很少人活到一百五十岁，但有一些人能活到一百岁。
   （3） There are a few mistakes in his exercises.
   他的练习里有几个错误。
   He made few mistakes in his exercises.
   他的练习里几乎没有错误。
   Ex．用little, a little, few, a few填空，然后将句子译成汉语。
   1.John has___friends. He likes to stay at home and play by himself.
   2.I have___friends here and I often visit them.
   3. He has very_____ knowledge of the subject.
   4.I still have____money and I can lend you.
   5.There aren't many apples in the basket now , but you can pick_____if you want to.
   6.I feel_____better today.
   7. She is a woman of____words.
   8. He knows English and less Japanese.
   Key to Ex. 1. few 2. a few 3. little 4. a little 5.a few 6.a little 7.few 8. little
   参考汉释：1．约翰很少朋友，他喜欢呆在家里独自玩。
   2．我在这儿有几个朋友，并且常常去探望他们。
   3．这个题目的知识他知道得很少。
   4．我还有一点钱，可以借给你。
   5．现在篮里没很多苹果了，如果你要的话，可以拿几个。
   6．我今天感觉好一点。
   7．她是个寡言的女人。
   8．他不懂多少英语，对日语更不懂。
   （石零）