Hassan spent ages cooking it.
OK OK. I'm goimg to eat ___ just to be polite.
Is that (a) a little or (b) a few?
Is there a rule to choose which word to use?
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1Depends on what's to be eaten. Exam questions are OT, though.– KrisJul 8, 2017 at 8:31
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Welcome to ELU. See also English Language Learners Good Luck.– KrisJul 8, 2017 at 8:31
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1You would use "a few" countable items, but "a little" of an uncountable.– Hot LicksJul 8, 2017 at 11:45
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Answered at “A few” vs. “few”.– Edwin AshworthJul 8, 2017 at 13:55
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@EdwinAshworth Which of the answers there answer this question?– Araucaria - Not here any more.Jul 8, 2017 at 15:32
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1 Answer
If the thing(s) being eaten are grammatically plural use a few, otherwise use a little:
I ate a little cake.
I ate a few cakes.
In the Original Poster's example, however, a little is being used in a fused Determiner-Head construction. It is being used as a Determiner without any following noun, in a similar way to how we use pronouns. The antecedent for a little is the word it from the first speaker's sentence:
A: Hassan spent ages cooking it.
B: OK, OK. I'll eat a little, just to be polite.
Notice that if speaker A had said them instead of it, then speaker B would most likely have said a few:
A: Hassan spent ages cooking them.
B: OK, OK. I'll eat a few, just to be polite.
answered Jul 8, 2017 at 11:18
Araucaria - Not here any more.Araucaria - Not here any more.
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Any feedback on the driveby downvote? I can't improve my post without it .... Jul 8, 2017 at 19:09
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1Sorry; I had to rush off to a celebratory meal. // 'If the thing(s) being eaten are grammatically plural use a few, otherwise use a little' leads to 'I had a little hot dog'. Etic, formal and concord-dictating singularity / plurality need distinguishing. But, using the usual analysis, 'a little' (quantifier sense) is used with non-count usages and 'a few' with count usages, as the answer I linked to observed. Jul 8, 2017 at 22:03
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@EdwinAshworth "I had a little hot dog" is perfectly grammatical, though, even if a bit ambiguous. It's perfectly apt if you only had a little of someone else's hotdog (see what I did there- and notice the complete singularity of the given hotdog). The linked to answer may mention countability, but involves no explanation - which isn't surprising, because it wasn't aiming to answer this question! Thanks for the feedback though. Jul 9, 2017 at 11:17
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Typical case. This is essentially an opinion and 'comments' is the place for it. There's a need for a canonical basis to be shown. Not down voting just yet. Cf. Edwin Ashworth above.– KrisJul 17, 2017 at 7:32