Confusing English Words – few / little / less / fewer
بسیاری از کلمات وجود دارند که معنی یکسانی دارند، اما در واقع تعاریف و کاربردهای مختلفی دارند.
شما می خواهید درست صحبت کنید و از به کار بردن کلمات نادرست خودداری کنید، اما در مورد معنی دقیق و کاربرد هر کلمه کاملا مطمئن نیستید.
بعضی از زبان آموزان حتی به دلیل تردیدهایشان از به کار بردن کلمات خودداری می کنند!
هدف ما در این سری از پست ها روشن کردن رایج ترین کلمات گیج کننده در انگلیسی است.
few / little / less / fewer
:Few is used with countable nouns, and little is used with uncountable nouns
(I have a little money. (money = uncountable
(I have a few dollars. (dollars = countable
(There’s little entertainment in this town. (entertainment = uncountable
There are few nightclubs in this town. (nightclubs = countable)
:One important detail
little is used with a negative connotation (“not much”)
a little is used when it’s a positive connotation (“better than nothing!”)
:”It’s the same with “few” and “a few
(He’s not very popular. He has few friends. (=a bad thing
(He has a few friends that he hangs out with all the time. (=a good thing
(She’s not qualified for the job because she has little experience in this area. (=a bad thing
(She could do this job; she has a little experience in this area. (=a good thing
:Fewer and less are the comparative forms
| Superlative | Comparative | Base Form |
| fewest | fewer | few |
| least | less | little |
If I made 8 mistakes on the test, John made 5 mistakes, and Harriet only made 2 mistakes, then: I made few mistakes on the test, but John made fewer mistakes than me, and Harriet made the fewest mistakes
If I have $20, John has $12, and Harriet has only $3, then: I have little money, John has less money than me, and Harriet has the least money out of all of us
One very common MISTAKE in the United States is signs in supermarkets that say “Ten items or less” for the express checkout lanes. The correct way is “Ten items or fewer” – because the word “items” is countable
