So few English books – так мало английских книг

very few questions – очень мало вопросов

too few days – слишком мало дней и др.

Однако очень часто для передачи значения мало (очень мало) вместо местоимения few (very few) в утвердительном предложении употребляется many в отрицательном предложении:

He usually asks me very few questions. – Обычно он задает мне очень мало вопросов.

He doesn’t usually ask me very many questions. – Обычно он не задает мне много вопросов.

A few немного употребляется в смысле некоторое, хотя и небольшое количество, в то время как few употребляется в смысле недостаточно, почти нет:

He has got few friends. – У него мало (почти нет) друзей.

He has got a few friends. – У него есть несколько друзей.

3. Упражнения по теме

Упражнение 67. Переведите на английский язык, употребляя much или many.

Много тетрадей, много молока, много воды, много дней, много газет, много мела, много снега, много лет, много картин, много музыки, много мальчиков, много девочек, много чая, много лимонов, много мяса, много комнат, много воздуха, много учителей, много работы, много птиц, много машин.

Упражнение 68. Вставьте a lot of, much или many.

1. I don’t eat … mangoes. 2. He eats … fish. 3. She eats so … dessert that she is in bed today with a stomachache. 4. That man drank so … wine, and he smokes so … cigarettes that he has a terrible headache today. 5. Mary must not eat too … salt because she has problems with her blood pressure. 6. My mother says I eat too … French fries and drink too … beer. 7. There is not too … space in my flat. 8. There are … new pictures in this room. 9. There are … teachers at our school, and … of them are women. 10. … of these plays are quite new. 11. … of her advice was useful. 12. He had … pairs of socks. 13. Please don’t put … pepper on the meat. 14. I never eat … bread with soup. 15. Why did you eat so … ice cream? 16. She wrote us … letters from the country. 17. … in this work was too difficult for me. 18. … of their answers were excellent. 19. … of their conversation was about the institute. 20. It costs … money to travel round the world. 21. How … foreign languages can you speak? 22. There was … food at the party but I didn’t eat … . 23. We saw … interesting things in the museum. 24. «Did you enjoy the party?» – «No, not …». 25. George knows … about economics. 26. It’s not a very lively town. There isn’t … to do. 27. This car is expensive to run. It uses … petrol. 28. Tom drinks … milk – one litre a day. 29. I put … salt in the soup. Perhaps too … . 30. Don’t disturb me. I’ve got … work to do.

Упражнение 69. Переведите на английский язык, употребляя little или few.

Мало домов, мало чая, мало чашек, мало яблок, мало окон, мало бумаги, мало кофе, мало статей, мало радости, мало супу, мало деревьев, мало травы, мало детей, мало игрушек, мало света, мало парт, мало сока, мало книг, мало цветов, мало соли.

Упражнение 70. Вставьте little или few.

1. He has got … friends. 2. I drink … coffee. I don’t like it. 3. We must hurry . We’ve got very … time. 4. There are very … scholarships for studies in the University. 5. The Smiths have … money . They aren’t rich. 6. The theatre was almost empty. There were very … people there. 7. There was … lemonade in the bottle. There were … peaches in the basket. 8. I have … time, so I can’t go with you. 9. He has … English books. 10. There is … ink in my pen. Have you got any ink? 11. There are … bears in the zoo. 12. Tom was the son of poor parents and had very … clothes. 13. There is too … soup in my plate. Give me some more soup, please. 14. The children returned from the wood very sad because they had found very … mushrooms. 15. There was too … light in the room, and I could not read. 16. There are very … people who don’t know that the Earth is round.

Упражнение 71. Переведите, употребляя little, a little, few, a few.

Немного денег, мало денег, несколько стульев, мало стульев, несколько песен, мало песен, немного веселья, мало веселья, немного воды, несколько человек, мало воды, мало воздуха, мало столов, несколько минут, немного удачи, мало работы, мало яиц, немного сахару, мало сыра, несколько ложек, мало света, несколько кошек.

Упражнение 72. Вставьте little, a little, few, a few.

1. There was … food in the fridge. It was nearly empty. 2. «When did you see Sarah?» – «… days ago». 3. He’s very lazy. He does … work. 4. They’re not rich but they’ve got … money – enough to live. 5. Last night I went to a restaurant with … friends. 6. The TV service is not very good. There are … good programmes. 7. I can’t decide now – I need … time to think about it. 8. Nearly everybody has a job. There is … unemployment. 9. He’s not well-known. … people have heard of him. 10. He doesn’t speak much English. Only … words. 11. «Would you like some more cake?» – «Yes, please, but only …». 12. The cinema was almost empty. There were very … people there. 13. I don’t think Jill would be a good teacher. She’s got … patience with children. 14. I have … money, so I can go to the cinema. 15. I have … money, so we can’t go to the cinema. 16. Mother gave us … apples and we were glad. 17. I can’t buy this expensive hat today: I have too … money. 18. I am sorry I have seen … plays by this author. 19. I think you can spare me … time now. 20. He didn’t like it at the camp: he had very … friends there.

Упражнение 73. Переведите на английский язык, употребляя a lot of, a lot, much, many, little, a little, few, a few.

1. Мы много работаем по субботам. 2. Он обычно задает мало вопросов на уроках. 3. Они занимаются английским языком много часов в неделю. 4. В классе мы обычно обсуждаем много вопросов. 5. Я не люблю писать много писем. Мне нравиться получать много писем. 6. Он читает мало французских книг. 7. Кто из них переводит много статей с русского на английский? – Петров. 8. Я знаю о них очень мало. 9. Сколько иностранных языков вы собираетесь учить? 10. Она работает много и обычно получает много хороших оценок. 11. На английских уроках мы мало говорим на русском языке. 12. Кто знает много французских слов? – Мы. Мы знаем много французских слов, но мало английских слов. 13. Каждый день мы получаем много иностранных журналов и газет. 14. Вы мало работаете вместе. 15. Она любит много ходит пешком. 16. Мы мало читаем в классе. Мы много читаем дома. 17. Он работает слишком много. Он работает 6 дней в неделю. 18. В классе мы делаем много упражнений. 19. Многие инженеры нашего учреждения изучают иностранные языки. 20. Ваш сын много работает? – Нет, он работает мало сейчас.

Упражнение 74. Вставьте a lot of, a lot, much, many, little, a little, few, a few.

1. When we walked … farther down the road, we met another group of students. 2. Have you got … ink in your pen? 3. At the conference we met … people whom we knew well. 4. There are very … old houses left in our street. Most of them have already been pulled down. 5. If you have … spare time, look through this book. You will find … stories there which are interesting. 6.There are … things here which I cannot understand. 7. Shall I bring … more chalk? – No, thank you. There is … chalk on the desk. I hope that will be enough for our lesson. 8. He had … English books at home, so he had to go to the library for more books. 9. She gave him … water to wash his hands and face. 10. I’d like to say … words about my journey. 11. After the play everybody felt … tired. 12. Let’s stay here … longer: it is such a nice place. 13. There were … new words in the text, and Peter spent … time learning them. 14. There was … hay in the barn, and the children could not play there. 15. There was … water in the river, and they decided to cross it. 16. My mother knows German … and she can help you with the translation of this letter.