few vs. a few

[Li Chyan]

Hello everyone!
I've had a regular English progress test today.There was one interesting sentence which aroused a lively dispute among our group of students.The task was to paraphrase the given sentences with no change in meaning and to use a word in bold (few for this sentence).
"He didn't know many people at the computer exhibition".
The majority of students paraphrased it in the following way:
"There were a few people he knew at the computer exhibition".
However, I wrote the following:
"There were few people he knew at the computer exhibition".
I would appreciate all commentaries, for I'd really like to know who was right and who was wrong in our dispute.
Thanks in advance!

[Alan]

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Hi,

Put simply 'a few' means 'not many'. When you say 'few' on its own, you also suggest that there are not many but in addition you indicate that you expected more.

A few people arrived at the open air concert.

Few people arrived at the open air concert because the weather was so bad. If it had been sunny, many more would have attended.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Mohammad6807]

hi alan
i agree with you, i think your answer is very helpful

[Li Chyan]

Thanx a lot for the prompt reply)
However I still feel confused about the correct answer. I think the original sentence implies something like "I wish there had been more acquaintances of mine at the exhibition", thus I supposed that the number of people was insufficient and used "few" to accentuate this fact. Am I right to think so?

[Cerberus™]

Yes, it should be "there were few people" in your sentence for the reason you gave. The denial of "many" in the original sentence implies, if you ask me, that the focus of this sentence is on the fact that there were NOT many, i.e. less than hoped for or expected.

[Genius71]

HI,

I agree with Cerberus.

To make it clearer..

A few - Meets expectation (you are okay with the situation)
Few - Below expectation ( you are disappointed)

[Nitikasnv3]

Hi,

Few" means that the number is not as large as expected,

A few" means the fact that the number, while small, is not zero.

I hope you will understand.

Thanks