Sentence: There is little if any cultivation in...

[Jojo]

English Grammar Error, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #21 "Modal Verbs", question 3

There is little if any cultivation in that area of the country and so all you see is miles of savage countryside.

(a) cultivation
(b) all
(c) savage

English Grammar Error, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #21 "Modal Verbs", answer 3

There is little if any cultivation in that area of the country and so all you see is miles of wild countryside.

Correct entry: wild
The error was: (c) savage
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I need support for explanation this question.

Jojo

[Alan]

Hi,

You asked about this sentence:

[Guest]

.
Savage is usually used of people and animals, and usually threatening in implication, JoJo; it is not used of uncultivated countryside.
.

[Nathanael86]

Hi,

wouldn't it be possible to say "savaged countryside" as well? I thought it would be best to stay as close to the word you have to replace as possible.

[Babi]

Alan, please help me!
"There is little if" I don't understand. Is this an idiom?

[Nathanael86]

Hey Babi,

the expression "little if any" is used in order to emphasize that something happens very rarely or something is at hand in only small amounts. For example: There is little if any rainfall in the desert. The football team has lost all matches so far. They made little if any progress.