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# few

«few» in Mova's school dictionary: **not many: few people came** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective, determiner, pronoun (few, fewer, fewest; a few)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Few means not many: few people came. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/few/#m1)

2) «A few» means a small number, some: I have a few sweets. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/few/#m2)

3) Fewer means a smaller number than another; fewest means the smallest number of all. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/few/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

in «how many fewer … than» the difference between two amounts (subtract the smaller from the bigger); «4 fewer than 11» = 11 − 4; in everyday life «a few minutes», «quite a few» (many); in science «few animals live in the desert»

### examples

- A box has 20 balloons and a bag has 19 balloons. How many fewer balloons are in the bag than in the box? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/few/#x1)
- Tom has 4 fewer pens than Lisa. Lisa has 11 pens. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/few/#x2)
- Ann has a few stamps. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/few/#x3)
- Wait a few minutes, please. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/few/#x4)
- Few people swim in the sea in winter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/few/#x5)
- Our team scored fewer goals than theirs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/few/#x6)
- Which class has the fewest books? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/few/#x7)
- I have a few friends on my street. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/few/#x8)
- In a few minutes they were ready. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/few/#x9)

### note

«fewer … than» asks for a difference: subtract the smaller from the bigger. Trap: «Tom has 4 fewer than Lisa» with Lisa's amount given asks for Tom's: subtract 4 from Lisa's. «Few» goes with things you can count (few apples); «little» and «less» with things you cannot count (little water). «Few» sounds sad (not enough); «a few» sounds neutral (some).

### In the corpora

- [A parent sleeping on the sofa for a few nights may mean a disagreement, or something simple like snoring or a bad back.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/14-grown-ups-who-argue-and-make-up/12/)
- [Some relatives get on, some do not, and a few stop speaking for years.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/17-gran-cousins-and-the-whole-family/2/)
- ["We're expecting" means a baby is growing inside Mum and will be born in a few months.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/18-were-having-a-baby/7/)
- [Parents often make a shortlist of names, and the name must be registered officially within a few weeks of the birth.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/18-were-having-a-baby/17/)
- [A few quiet minutes, a hug, or a simple «Are you OK?» often help most.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/34-when-grown-ups-are-tired-or-worried/9/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «few» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/few/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.