Mặc dù đều là các lượng từ đặt trước danh từ nhưng "a little", "a few", "little" và “few" có cách dùng và nghĩa khác nhau.
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"A little" và "a few" nghĩa là một ít, một vài hoặc đủ.
- "Little" và "few" có nghĩa là nhỏ, không đủ hoặc hầu như không có.
| Ví dụ | Nghĩa của từ | |
| I've got a little money. I'm going to the cinema. | Tôi có một ít tiền. Chúng ta đi xem phim thôi. | một ít, một vài |
| I've got a few friends. We meet everyday. | Tôi có một vài bạn. Chúng tôi gặp nhau hàng ngày | |
| I've got [very] little money. I need to borrow some. | Tôi có ít tiền. Tôi cần đi vay thêm. | hầu như không có, không đủ |
| I've got [very] few friends. I need to make new friends. | Tôi hầu như không có bạn. Tôi cần có thêm bạn mới. |
Quy tắc sử dụng A few và few, a little và little
- "A little", "a few", "little" and "few" thường được dùng trong câu khẳng định, ít khi xuất hiện trong câu phủ định hay câu hỏi.
- Danh từ đếm được và không đếm được
1. "A little" and "little" được dùng với danh từ không đếm được [money, bread, water...]
2. "A few" and "few" được dùng với danh từ đếm được [friends, tables, teachers..]
Luyện tập
Exercise 1: hoàn thành các câu sau với a few / a little.
1. Some of the people will not attend the ceremony. ---- have already informed me.
2. There’s ---- spaghetti left in the fridge. Shall we eat it tonight?
3. We are experiencing ---- technical issues at the moment.
4. We stayed in Florence for ---- days before moving on to Milan.
5. Mary managed to get ---- information about the renovation project.
6. We still have ---- ideas left, so let’s hear them out.
7. Give the water ---- water every day if you don’t want them to die.
8. His theories were so complex that only ---- people could understand it.
9. There’s still ---- time left to finish the project, but we’d better be hurry.
10. I’ve been to that Austrian restaurant ---- times. It’s really good.
Exercise 2: hoàn thành các câu sau với few / little.
1. I’m sorry, I can’t pay for your lunch. I have ---- money.
2. ---- children from this school go on to university, unfortunately.
3. ---- is known about this famous artist.
4. Her house is almost empty! She has ---- furniture.
5. There are ---- posts about financial advising that are worth reading. Most of them are very confusing.
6. His car needs cleaning. He takes very ---- care of it.
7. Very ---- people can speak foreign language perfectly.
8. He’s the new teacher, so he has very ---- patience with children.
9. We need more volunteers. There’re too ---- people to help us with the set up.
10. There were very ---- people who were really interested in the performance.
Đáp án
Exercise 1
1. Some of the people will not attend the ceremony. A few have already informed me.
2. There’s a little spaghetti left in the fridge. Shall we eat it tonight?
3. We are experiencing a few technical issues at the moment.
4. We stayed in Florence for a few days before moving on to Milan.
5. Mary managed to get a little information about the renovation project.
6. We still have a few ideas left, so let’s hear them out.
7. Give the water a little water every day if you don’t want them to die.
8. His theories were so complex that only a few people could understand it.
9. There’s still a little time left to finish the project, but we’d better be hurry.
10. I’ve been to that Austrian restaurant a few times. It’s really good.
Exercise 2
1. I’m sorry, I can’t pay for your lunch. I have little money.
2. Few children from this school go on to university, unfortunately.
3. Little is known about this famous artist.
4. Her house is almost empty! She has little furniture.
5. There are few posts about financial advising that are worth reading. Most of them are very confusing.
6. His car needs cleaning. He takes very little care of it.
7. Very few people can speak foreign language perfectly.
8. He’s the new teacher, so he has very little patience with children.
9. We need more volunteers. There’re too few people to help us with the set up.
10. There were very few people who were really interested in the performance.
Collected by Ms. Huyền Vy – Caring Messenger