喜樂美語

A small number — only a handful out of what could be many. The picture is a tiny pile of countable things, with the rest of the space empty.

可以想成從一大堆可數的東西裡，只抓出小小一把——其餘的位置都空著。核心畫面比較像桌上稀稀落落幾顆，數得出來、而且不多。few 所有的用法都在玩這個「數量很小」的感覺，差別只在你是輕鬆地說「有幾個」，還是強調「少得可憐」，或反過來驚訝「居然這麼少／這麼多」。

Four branches

基本的「少」與「不少」

登入就可以看這一支怎麼連回核心畫面。

a few (some) · determiner · A1

A small number of people or things — used with 'a' to mean 'some'.

一些；幾個

強調數字大或小的固定說法

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no fewer than · determiner · B2

Used in 'no fewer than' to emphasize that a number is surprisingly large.

多達；不少於

當「少數人」用的引申

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the few (the chosen few) · determiner · B2

Used in 'the few' (often 'the chosen few' or 'the privileged few') for a small group of people who get special treatment or advantages.

少數特權者；少數被選中的人

已成定型的口語片語

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few and far between · determiner · B1

In 'few and far between' — happening rarely or hard to find; not happening often.

稀少；難得一見

容易混在一起的字在訂閱裡。容易混在一起的字需要訂閱帳號。

意思相近

someseverala couple ofa handful ofhardly anynot manyscarcely anybarely anya lot oflots ofmanyplenty of+17

意思相反

manya lot oflots ofplenty ofhardly anya couple ofno more thanas few asonlyas many asno fewer thanthe many+5

原始詞典資料7 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

Fewname詞源 1

  • 1

    The pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain.

Fewname詞源 2

  • 1

    A surname.

fewdet/fjuː/

  • 1

    An indefinite, but usually small, number of.

    • There are a few cars (=some, but a relatively small number) in the street.
    • Quite a few people (=a significant number) were pleasantly surprised.
  • 2

    Not many; a small (in comparison with another number stated or implied) but somewhat indefinite number of.

    • Very few did she have not to go there, did she?
    • I was expecting a big crowd at the party, but very few people (=almost none) turned up.
  • 3

    climatologymeteorologynatural-sciencesObscuring one to two oktas (eighths) of the sky.

    • Tonight: A few clouds. Increasing cloudiness overnight.
    • NOAA definition of the term few clouds: An official sky cover classification for aviation weather observations, descriptive of a sky cover of 1/8 to 2/8. This is applied only when obscuring phenomena aloft are present--that is, not when obscuring phenomena are surface-based, such as fog.
  • 4

    climatologymeteorologynatural-sciences(US?) Having a 10 percent chance of measurable precipitation (0.01 inch); used interchangeably with isolated.

fewpron/fjuː/

  • 1

    Few people, few things.

    • Many are called, but few are chosen.

摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。