Two vs Few - What's the difference?
two | few |
(label) A numerical value equal to ; the second number in the set of natural numbers (especially in number theory); the cardinality of the set {0, 1}; one plus one. Ordinal: second. This many dots (••).
*
Describing a set or group with two components.
* {{quote-book, year=1927, author=
, chapter=5, title= The digit/figure 2.
(US, informal) A two-dollar bill.
A child aged two.
The playing cards featuring two pips.
(preceded by another determiner) An indefinite, but usually small, number of.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (used alone) Not many; a small (in comparison with another number stated or implied) but somewhat indefinite number of.
(meteorology, of clouds) (US?) Obscuring one eighth to two eighths of the sky.
(meteorology, of rainfall with regard to a location) (US?) Having a 10 percent chance of measurable precipitation (0.01 inch); used interchangeably with isolated.
As a numeral two
is a numerical value equal to 2; the second number in the set of natural numbers (especially in number theory); the cardinality of the set {0, 1}; one plus one. Ordinal: second. This many dots (••).As a noun two
is the digit/figure 2.As a determiner few is
an indefinite, but usually small, number of.As a pronoun few is
few people, few things.As a proper noun Few is
the pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain.two
English
(wikipedia two)Alternative forms
* (l) (obsolete outside dialects)Numeral
(head)- Venters began to count them—one—two —three—four—on up to sixteen.
F. E. Penny
Pulling the Strings, passage=“[…] The two murders might have been done by one of the ryots who was dissatisfied over his assessment and thought he had a grievance. […].”}}
Derived terms
* four by two * in two * put two and two together * two-by-four * two-dimensional * two-edged * two-faced * two heads are better than one * two-piece * two-stroke * two-tone * two-way * two-wheelerSee also
*Noun
(en noun)- The number 2202 contains three two s.
- This toy is suitable for the two s and threes.
See also
*Derived terms
* two-up * two's complementSee also
* * * both * couple * double * dual * pair * second * twice * twin * two-Statistics
*few
English
Determiner
A new prescription, passage=No sooner has a [synthetic] drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one. These “legal highs” are sold for the few months it takes the authorities to identify and ban them, and then the cycle begins again.}}
- I was expecting lots of people at the party, but very few''''' (=''almost none'') ''turned up. Quite a '''few''' of them'' (=''many of them'') ''were pleasantly surprised. I don't know how many drinks I've had, but I've had a '''few . [This usage is likely ironic.]
- 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 phenomenon aloft are present--that is, not when obscuring phenomenon are surface-based, such as fog.
Usage notes
* (term) is used with plural nouns only; its synonymous counterpart (little) is used with nouns. * Although indefinite in nature, a few is usually more than two (two often being referred to as "a couple of"), and less than "several". If the sample population is say between 5 and 20, a few would mean three or four, but no more than this. However, if the population sample size were in the millions, "a few" could refer to several hundred items. In other words, few'' in this context means ''a very very small percentage but way over the 3 or 4 usually ascribed to it its use with much much smaller numbers. : (term) is grammatically affirmative but semantically negative, and it can license negative polarity items. For example, lift a finger usually cannot be used in affirmative sentences, but can be used in sentences with (term). *: He didn't lift a finger to help us. *: *He lifted a finger to help us. (ungrammatical) *: Few people lifted a finger to help us. *: *A few people lifted a finger to help us. (ungrammatical) *: *Fewer people lifted a finger to help us. (ungrammatical)Synonyms
* little (see usage)Antonyms
* manyDerived terms
* a few * quite a fewAntonyms
* manyReferences
* Meteorology (both senses) *:NOAA Glossary: f