There’s a big difference between “few” and “a few”. In fact they have opposite meanings.

　　few和a few之间区别很大，事实上，它们的意思几乎完全相反。

　　If you say, for example, “I have a few friends in the Ministry”, it sounds impressive.

　　比如你说“我在上头有些朋友”，那别人会对你刮目相看的。

　　“few” = not many;“a few” = several. “Few” and “a few” are used with countable nouns.

　　few就是不多的意思，a few就是有一些的意思。Few和a few都是用来形容可数名词的。

　　Ex: The Regulator has presented this standpoint on few occasions.

　　例1：该官员在很少的一些场合发表过这一观点。

　　Ex: The Regulator has presented this standpoint on a few occasions.

　　例2：该官员在不少场合发表过这一观点。

　　“Little” and “a little” work in the same way as “few” and “a few”.

　　little和a little的用法和few和a few类似。

　　“little” = not much; “a little” = some. “Little” and “a little” are used with uncountable nouns.

　　little的意思是不多，a little的意思是有一些。Little和a little都是用来形容不可数名词的。

　　Ex: I have a little money” (a modest way of saying you’re reasonably wealthy).

　　例3：我有些钱(这是对我是有钱人的委婉说法)。

　　Ex: We hope to be able to complete the project in as little time as possible. (i.e. not much time – “as little … as possible” is a common phrase)

　　例4：我们希望能花最少的时间来完成这个项目(花越少…越好，“as little … as possible”这在英语中是个习惯用法)。

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（实习编辑：高奕飞）