a few of vs. a few

[Minh]

Hi everybody,

Can anyone please tell me the difference between these two following sentences?

1) I picked a few of the flowers from my garden and made a bouquet.

2) I picked a few flowers from my garden and made a bouquet.

Many thanks,

Minh

[Mister Micawber]

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No difference in quantity of flowers. #1 may be your only choice in more specific situations.
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Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Minh]

Hi Mr. Micawber,

In the sentence #2, the noun "flowers" is a specific noun. The readers can recognize it because of the preposition phrase "from my garden". This indicates that only flowers from my garden were made into a bouquet. Therefore, it must have a definite artical in front of the noun "flowers". If so, then the expression of quantity "a few of" must be used instead of " a few" in this sentence. Therefore, I think that the sentence #2 has a mistake of using the expression " a few" in this case. Please let me know how my understanding about the means of using expressions "a few of" and "a few" is.

Many thanks,

Minh

[Mister Micawber]

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Both sentences are fine. 'From my garden' does not affect the article here. A difference I see is that in #1 the listener more probably knows that the speaker has a garden with flowers.
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_________________
Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's