Common English Errors

Apart from Douchebaggery, there’s another thing that is hard to miss on Facebook: Poor Grammar.

Visit any Facebook Page and you will cringe at the degree of syntax errors people commit pretty innocently. One of those most frequently committed errors is the confusion between “Few” and “A Few”.

Don’t Say “Few” When You Mean “Some”

I have come across a lot of people who use “few” when they mean to say “some”.

Here’s one such example: “Few people will never change their behavior.”

In the above example, apparently, the person wants to say, “Some people will never change their behavior”.

Technically, the word “Few” suggests a small number of people or things. When we use the word “few”, we want to indicate that the number is smaller than what we expect or what is normally found in a particular situation.

For example, if you see only 5 to 10 students present in a classroom session for which 50 students have enrolled, you can say there are “few” students in this session.

Similarly, when we say there are few buyers for this product, we usually mean to indicate a number that is smaller than “our” expectations or that is generally expected in similar situations.

Some more examples of “few” would be as follows:

There were few spectators for the match. (meaning the stadium looked rather empty for its capacity)

There were few people in the street last evening. (meaning we usually see a larger number of people in the street during the evening everyday)

A Few = Not a Large Number

Compare the two sentences given below:

I have few friends who can help you with this. (meaning I have barely any friends who can help you or I have no friends who can help you with this)

I have a few friends who can help you with this. (meaning I have some/ a couple of friends who can help you with this)

Here’s another comparative example originally found on Stack Exchange.

“I have a few objections to the vendor’s proposed approach.”

This implies that I am not on board with the vendor’s proposal. I have some objections, but not so many as to say “I have several objections…”. Nevertheless, I have objections that need to be addressed.

“I have few objections to the vendor’s proposed approach.”

This is a more positive statement that implies I am more or less on board with the proposal. It is not a whole-hearted endorsement, but I barely have any objections at all.

You can read more about this here on Stack Exchange.

Quite a Few: Definition

The idiom “Quite a few” confuses many English learners from around the world because of the irony it holds. It is important to understand there are many idioms in English that originated from conventions rather than rules. This essentially means you cannot change their structure.

What “Quite a few” really means

Quite a few means a fairly large number of something. It is usually used in a relative sense, meaning more than what is expected in a usual scenario. To keep it simple, though, it is synonymous with a large amount/number, a huge amount/number, and a significant amount/number of something.

Here are some examples of “Quite a few”

Quite a few people: A large number of people.

For example, Quite a few people got the wrong impression.

Quite a few times: A significant number of times.

For example, I’ve seen this movie quite a few times and I know every dialogue by heart.

Quite a few years / Quite a few years ago: A long time / A long time ago.

For example, Quite a few years have passed since he got married. // I met him quite a few years ago so I may not recognize him now.

Quite a few of them: Most of them.

For example, Quite a few of them were corrupt and I couldn’t work with them for a long time.

Quite a bit: A fairly large amount.

For example, There’s quite a bit of snow on the ground.

“A Few” vs. “Quite a Few”

There is a very common expression “quite a few”, which is a trap for foreign learners because it looks like it could mean “rather few or very few”, but it does not.

“Quite a few” expresses that the speaker was impressed or astonished by the number, as they would have expected less. Or the speaker wants to emphasize the fact that it was “more than you would think”.

Look at the following example:

Quite a few people were seen at the sea shore despite the cyclone warning by the weather department.

In the above example, the speaker doesn’t mean that the beach was crowded. He only means that he hadn’t expected as many visitors at the sea shore on a day when the cyclone panic was endemic.

As stated in the example above, “Quite a few” is used only when a specific number (of people or things) are not expected in a given situation.

However, it has become quite common for people to use it to mean “many” or “a large number of”.

It means the exact opposite thing: “a large or significant number, or many”. So, saying “I have quite a few friends” is the same as saying “I have a lot of friends”.

You can read more about this phrase here on Stack Exchange.

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Before I begin, I would like to explain what hypothetical conditions actually mean. Hypothetical is something that isn’t real or just imaginary.

For example, in a sentence, “I wish I were a Spider-Man”, you imagine something that isn’t possible or real.

Sometimes, we want to express thoughts in a way that both talk about a hypothetical instance in relation to a condition.

Here’s an example:

“If I were a Spider-Man, I would fly everywhere”.

In the above example, the person expresses his wishes of flying everywhere on the condition of being a Spider-Man. To explain it further, his not being a Spider-Man negates his chances of flying.

Here’s another example:

If I had enough money, I would definitely buy this house. (You won’t buy this house because you don’t have enough money but you kind of wish you had enough money)

Note: Please, note that in the above examples, both conditions are in relation to the present time. Therefore, the use of “were” or “had” doesn’t say anything about the past.

While the above examples are based on the present hypothesis, there are situations when we express a conditional hypothesis that has relations with the past.

For example:

If I had worked harder, I would have made it to the top position in that company.

In the example above, you’re essentially talking about an outcome (you not making it to the top position) that didn’t happen because some conditions weren’t fulfilled, i.e., you working harder.

However, we can hear many speakers using the following structures these days.

As a matter of fact, both these sentences are structurally ungrammatical.

The correct structures of these sentences should be as follows:

Here’s a thread on Stack Exchange that explains this usage with more examples.

Sometimes, we talk about the conditional hypothesis which is related to both past and present life.

For example:

If I had saved enough money in my youth, I would be living a happier life.

In the example above, the speaker is apparently in his old age and wishing for something he can no longer perform. However, his present life is affected by his past action.

Here are some more examples:

If he hadn’t done well in the training courses, he wouldn’t be a Project leader now.

Note: The keyword is now. He is now the Project Leader but would not now be the Project Leader if he hadn’t done well.

Now, let’s compare the following examples:

(In the second example, the person is no longer the project leader in the company because he may no longer be working in the company)

Now, let’s compare the following examples:

(In the first example, the speaker is apparently financially weak but wishing for something hypothetical. Note that both instances belong to the present time.

In the second example, the speaker simply talks about his past. Note that both his actions belong to the past only.)

Here’s a question for you: Is the following sentence grammatically correct or wrong?

If I were a Spider-Man, I would have flown everywhere.

PS: Please, answer the question in the comment section below.