http://www.englishforums.com/English/EslGeneralEnglishGrammar-Questions/Forum12.htmAsk your questions on grammar and get your sentence checked. We answer lots of different types of general English grammar questions here. <font color=red>DO NOT post paragraphs and compositions here. Post them in our <a href="http://www.englishforums.com/English/EssayReportCompositionWriting/Forum9.htm"><b>Essay, Report and Composition Writing Forum</b></a>.</font>enXMOD (Build: 3607.32596)http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/2/vlxjl/Post.htm#396369Sat, 23 May 2009 07:29:58 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:396369CalifJim0http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/2/vlxjl/Post.htm#396369http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-396369.xmlThis may surprise you. What a peculiar the nature of "little"! How peculiar the nature of "little" is! What a peculiar nature "little" has! CJhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/2/vlxjl/Post.htm#396368Sat, 23 May 2009 07:29:58 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:396368Teleostomi1http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/2/vlxjl/Post.htm#396368http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-396368.xml(1) I have a little milk. (2) I have little milk. (3) I saw a little boy. (4) * I saw little boy. (5) A little alteration = (1) (6) little alteration = (2) (7) * a little alteration s---(* a alterations + little) (8) some little alteration s ---(some alterations + little) What a peculiar the nature of "little"!http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/2/vlxjl/Post.htm#392754Fri, 23 Jan 2009 08:29:58 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:392754CalifJim2http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/2/vlxjl/Post.htm#392754http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-392754.xmlCan "little" modify countable nouns? Only when it means small in size: The collage was constructed from little pieces of colored string. Not when it means small in amount: There was little coin was little coins were little coins were few coins left in my pocket at the end of the day. a little alterations CJhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/vlxjl/post.htm#392579Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:29:58 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:392579Cool Breeze3http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/vlxjl/post.htm#392579http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-392579.xmlGrammar Geek wrote: In your example, with the slight change to I had some little alterations made, it sounds fine to me. Hi GG Your sentence sounds fine to me as well. I think the original poster didn't quite know how to ask the question he/she wanted to ask. That is obvious from his/her sentence, which has a little alteration s even though the title of the post has just little. Being a nonnative I can easily see what he/she is wondering about. The basic difference between a little and a few when size is not meant is that a little can't qualify a plural noun: I have a little/some money. But: I have a few /some friend s . (Not: I have a little friends. ) This is what he/she is asking about. Of course little can qualify a...http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/vlxjl/post.htm#392512Fri, 23 Jan 2009 08:29:58 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:392512Grammar Geek4http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/vlxjl/post.htm#392512http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-392512.xmlYes, by all means, little can modify countable nouns. As an American speaker, I agree that there are differences so that you can't always use "small" when you'd use "little," (the "little boy" example is a good one). But you can use "little" just about any time you would use "small." You seem to have learned some sublties of difference between the two words that I, as a native speaker, don't know about. A small dog = a little dog. A small piece of cake = a little piece of cake. And so on. In your example, with the slight change to I had some little alterations made, it sounds fine to me.http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/vlxjl/post.htm#392467Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:29:58 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:392467Ant_2225http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/vlxjl/post.htm#392467http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-392467.xml&#171;Ah, you ignited my fuse! Could you explain a bit more?&#187; How am I supposed to explain it? You know/are learning Russian?http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/vlxjl/post.htm#392463Thu, 23 Apr 2009 07:29:58 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:392463Cool Breeze6http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/vlxjl/post.htm#392463http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-392463.xmlHi T You may hear expressions like a little alterations in informal conversation but in correct English your sentence should be: It didn't fit me at first, so I had a few alteration s made. If the alterations were so insignificant as to hardly deserve a mention, you could say: I had some small alterations made. Little entails too much feeling to be used in the sentence. But these are OK: a little town, a little boy A wife may call her 50-year-old husband little : He is still a little boy. She wouldn't say: He is still a small boy. Cheers CBhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/vlxjl/post.htm#392445Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:29:58 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:392445Teleostomi7http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/vlxjl/post.htm#392445http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-392445.xmlOK, you're right. Thanks for clarifying it! We used to have one before the Bolshevik Revolution. Ah, you ignited my fuse! Could you explain a bit more?http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/vlxjl/post.htm#392381Thu, 23 Apr 2009 07:29:58 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:392381Ant_2228http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/vlxjl/post.htm#392381http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-392381.xml&#171;Isn't there one in Russian?&#187; We used to have one before the Bolshevik Revolution... Now, in such sentences, the addressee stands in the nominative (subjective) case. What about addressing several crying children: "Hush, you little babies, you fathers are rich and mums good looking so there's no reason to cry"? Also no case? P.S.: Anyway, little can be used with countables. Just check it in google.http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/vlxjl/post.htm#392369Thu, 23 Apr 2009 07:29:58 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:392369Teleostomi9http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/vlxjl/post.htm#392369http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-392369.xmlNo, I don't think "baby" could be called "countable noun" there. I'd say it's "vocative" (Isn't there one in Russian?) although there supposed to be no case in English.http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/vlxjl/post.htm#392360Fri, 23 Jan 2009 08:29:58 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:392360Ant_22210http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/vlxjl/post.htm#392360http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-392360.xmlOf couse it can: &#171;Hush little baby and don't you cry&#187; (Sommertime, Ella Fitzgerald). But in your example there should be no indefite article — "little alterations".http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/vlxjl/post.htmThu, 23 Apr 2009 07:29:58 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:392337Teleostomi11http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanLittleModifyCountableNouns/vlxjl/post.htmhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-392337.xmlCan "little" modify countable nouns? A: Where did you have it custom-tailored? B: It's not custom-made. I bought it off the rack. A: Really? It fits you perfectly. B: Thank you. It didn't fit me at first, so I had a little alteration s made. I learned that you can't use "a little" or "little" with countable nouns.