Anonymous  +  186107 Fri, 20 Jan 06 01:44 AM Hi, I think someone in the forum said to refer to something happening presently, you have to use "few". Likewise, are there different implications for each of these? Ex. a few questions few questions   - referring to something occurring presently?  Anonymous

	Mister Micawber  +  186140 Fri, 20 Jan 06 04:38 AM A few = several Few = not many Mister Micawber Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004 Yokohama Veteran Member 30,840 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

	Blue Luck  +  188124 Tue, 24 Jan 06 05:45 PM Sorry, but I am confused. Don't they mean the same thing?  I mean "several" and "not many" mean the same thing right?  So, when do you use "a few" and when do you use just "few"? Are they interchangeable? Blue Luck Joined on Mon, Jan 23 2006 New Member 05 If we spoke a different language, we would perceive a somewhat different world. - Ludwig Wittgenstein The limits of my language are the limits of my mind. All I know is what I...

	pieanne  +  188172 Tue, 24 Jan 06 06:53 PM No, "several" can be positive, or neutral at the worst. "Not many" sounds like you're sorry there were not more of them. "Although it was raining, a few people showed up at the burial" (+) "Because it was raining, few people showed up at the burial" (-) pieanne Joined on Thu, Jan 20 2005 South of France ...But I'm Belgian! Veteran Member 7,517 I'm glad to help, but I'm not a native! And please excuse my typos...

	Ruslana  +  188208 Tue, 24 Jan 06 07:48 PM Let me add some more examples. He has few friends. => The number of his friends is very little, he almost has no friends (not enough). He has a few friends. => The number of his friends is little but "enough", he has several friends. Concerning Pieanne's examples, I understand them in this way. Although it was raining, a few people showed up at the burial. => It was "enough" people. That's why the sense is positive. Because it was raining, few people showed up at the burial. => It was "too few", "not enough" people. There should have been more of them. That's why the sense is negative. Ruslana Joined on Sat, Dec 17 2005 Senior Member 3,694 Negatives