'Few', 'A few', 'Many' etc!

[Tom]

Hi

As a rough guess, could you please tell me 'how many' by writing down the number in front of each sentence, i.e, 2 or 6 etc?

1- There were few tables in the room.
2- There were a few tables in the room.
3- There were a good few tables in the room.
4- There were quite a fewtables in the room.
5- There were several tables in the room.
6- There were many tables in the room.
7- There were a good many tables in the room.
8- There were a whole lot tables in the room.
9- There were lotstables in the room.

Thanks in advance

Tom

[Mister Micawber]

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C'mon, Tom-- context! Is this a restaurant? A boardroom? A living room?
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_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mister Micawber

[Tom]

Dear MM

Do the (meanings of )the given words depend on the places they are in?

1- few
2-a few tables
3-a good few tables
4-quite a few
5-several
6- many
7- a good many

Tom

[Alan]

Hi Tom,

You asked:

[Mister Micawber]

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[Yankee]

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I agree with the gents, Tom. It depends very much on the context (and to some extent, also on personal opinion).
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_________________
Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English