2012年商务英语写作：分清few、little

会计考友

There’s a big difference between “few” and “a few”. In fact they have opposite meanings.
1 l7 H% t3 P' y7 F! N: H! a; J6 }/ ~* @few和a few之间区别很大，事实上，它们的意思几乎完全相反。
. X" \' N2 K2 s8 O! ~If you say, for example, “I have a few friends in the Ministry”, it sounds impressive.
8 u) @+ c6 U& `! V4 D$ n比如你说“我在上头有些朋友”，那别人会对你刮目相看的。
2 {1 h) U5 _1 J1 I7 U: X- {2 i“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。
- f9 o4 W' l4 cEx: 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。 wｗw.ExamＷ.CoM
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”.
! F% N1 D+ `- O) Blittle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。
: h, [9 l) i  G: G  V9 {. E. x' }Ex: I have a little money” (a modest way of saying you’re reasonably wealthy).
- t+ X% ?6 e7 ^5 K+ C( a8 l" b例3：我有些钱（这是对我是有钱人的委婉说法）。
" |& w& z+ d) A) ^7 t& GEx: 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)
9 D# `4 e5 J7 j; R0 D/ D! G0 A/ A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）。