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[ClarissaMach]

What is the correct answer for this question (between 1 and 2)


Were there a lot of mistakes in your dictation?

1) There were only a few mistakes.

2) There were only few mistakes.

I thought (1) was the correct one, but according to my teacher, (2) is correct. Still, I'm not sure. Could someone help me?
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Stormy Weather.

[redset]

'Few mistakes' means 'not many mistakes', emphasising that there were less mistakes than expected or just a very low number. 'A few mistakes' means 'a small number of mistakes', which tends to imply that there were more mistakes than expected, even if it was a low number. People can play this down by using something like only to qualify it - sure there were mistakes, but there were only a few! Not too many! Saying 'there were few mistakes' already implies this, so adding only would be somewhat redundant.

So I'm with you on this - 1) is definitely right, 2) sounds odd.

[ClarissaMach]

Thanks, redser.

No I wonder if I must tell my teacher about his mistake or not.
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Stormy Weather.

[lotus]

Hi Clarissa,

You might consider informing your teacher, depending on your relationship with your teacher.

From this site:

http://www.1-language.com/englishcourse/unit15_grammar.htm

quote:

A few is used with countable nouns to show a small quantity. It is used in affirmative statements, but not negatives.

- I have a few books.

There is an important difference between a few and few. Few without a is used to mean we don't have enough of something.

For example:
- She has a few apples in the refridgerator. (She has a small quantity of apples)
- She has few apples in the refridgerator. (She doesn't have enough apples).

end quote:

Because few is used in negative statements, putting only in front of it would amount to a double negative.


--lotus
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War does not make one great --Yoda

[ClarissaMach]

Thanks, Lotus. I'm visiting the website right now!
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Stormy Weather.