few用作代词时,意思是“很少,几个”,作主语时谓语动词须用复数形式。作名词时意为“很少数,人名;(英)菲尤”,作代词时意为“很少”。作形容词时意为“很少的;几乎没有的”。
adj.很少的;很少;(与复数名词和复数动词连用)有些;几乎没有的。
pron.很少;有些(人、事物、地方);(与复数动词连用)少数人;不和…一般多。
n.很少数。
few用来强调小数目的否定意义,相当于说“很少”或“几乎没有”,它的含义是该数目令人失望或令人吃惊的小。如:
Few people like snakes. 很少有人喜欢蛇。
I know few of them. 他们当中我几乎不认识什么人。
a few的意思与few不同,它没有否定含义,它表示“有几个”,有时甚至还表示“一些”。如:
After a few tries they gave up. 试过几次之后他们就放弃了。
当要与一段时间连用时,我们总是用a few,不用few。如:
We need a place where we can stay for a few days. 我们需要一个能住几天的地方。
另外,还要注意not a few和quite a few这两个短语,不要误认为它们是反义词,其实它们几乎是同义词,都可表示“不少”“相当多”的意思。如:
Not a few of the members were absent. 不少会员未出席。
Quite a few of us are worried. 我们不少人很着急。
every few
1. (尤指时间单位)每隔几…一次
她每隔几周探望一次。
she visits every few weeks.
few and far between
1. 稀少,罕有;稀疏
我难得有灵感。
my inspired moments are few and far between.
a good few
1. (英)大量的,许多的
多年来它一直挥之不去。
it had been around for a good few years.