different between such vs few

English

Alternative forms

• sich, sech (dialectal)
• soch, soche (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English such, swuch, swich, swilch, swulch, from Old English swel?, from Proto-Germanic *swal?kaz (“so formed, so like”), equivalent to so +? like. Cognate with Scots swilk, sic, sik (“such”), Saterland Frisian suk (“such”), West Frisian suk, sok (“such”), Dutch zulk (“such”), Low German sölk, sulk, sülk, suk (“such”), German solch (“such”), Danish slig (“like that, such”), Swedish slik (“such”), Icelandic slíkur (“such”). More at so, like.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s?t??/
• Rhymes: -?t?

Determiner

such

1. (demonstrative) Like this, that, these, those; used to make a comparison with something implied by context.
2. (particularly used in formal documents) Any.

3. Used as an intensifier; roughly equivalent to very much of.
4. (obsolete) A certain; representing the object as already particularized in terms which are not mentioned.

   • In rushed one and tells him such a knight / Is new arrived.

   • To-day or to-morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year.

Translations

Pronoun

such

1. A person, a thing, people, or things like the one or ones already mentioned.
   • 1804, Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, The Tatler, C. Whittingham, John Sharpe, page 315:

     These oraculous proficients are day and night employed in deep searches for the direction of such as run astray after their lost goods : but at present they are more particularly serviceable to their country in foretelling the fate of such as have chances in the public lottery.

Translations

Noun

such (plural suches)

1. (philosophy) Something being indicated that is similar to something else.

Related terms

Anagrams

• CHUs, Cush, cush, hucs

German

Pronunciation

Verb

such

1. second-person singular imperative present of suchen

Middle English

Determiner

such

1. Alternative form of swich

English

Etymology

From Middle English fewe, from Old English f?aw (“few”), from Proto-Germanic *fawaz (“few”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh?w- (“few, small”). Cognate with Old Saxon f? (“few”), Old High German fao, f? (“few, little”), Old Norse fár (“few”), Gothic ???????????????? (faus, “few”), Latin paucus (“little, few”) (whence English pauper, poor etc.). More at poor.

Pronunciation

• (UK)
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /fju?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /fju/
• Rhymes: -u?
• Homophone: phew

Determiner

few (comparative fewer or less, superlative fewest or least)

1. (preceded by another determiner) An indefinite, but usually small, number of.

   There are a few cars (=some, but a relatively small number) in the street.

   I was expecting a big crowd at the party, but very few people (=almost none) turned up.

   Quite a few people (=a significant number) were pleasantly surprised.

   I think he's had a few drinks. [This usage is likely ironic.]

2. (used alone) Not many; a small (in comparison with another number stated or implied) but somewhat indefinite number of.

3. (meteorology, of clouds) Obscuring one to two oktas (eighths) of the sky.

   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 phenomena aloft are present--that is, not when obscuring phenomena are surface-based, such as fog.

4. (meteorology, of rainfall with regard to a location) (US?) Having a 10 percent chance of measurable precipitation (0.01 inch); used interchangeably with isolated.

Usage notes

• Few is used with plural nouns only; its synonymous counterpart little is used with uncountable 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 far more than the 3 or 4 usually ascribed to it in its use with much much smaller numbers.

• Few is grammatically affirmative but semantically negative, and it can license negative polarity items. For example, anything usually cannot be used in affirmative sentences, but can be used in sentences with few.

• He didn't do anything to help us.
• *He did anything to help us. (ungrammatical)
• Few people did anything to help us.
• *A few people did anything to help us. (ungrammatical, since a few is a different unit of meaning from few and does not license NPIs)

• Few alone emphasises smallness of number, while a few emphasises some. For example: He's a dull man with few ideas; He's a clever man with a few ideas.

Synonyms

• little (see usage)

Antonyms

• many

Derived terms

• a few
• a good few
• quite a few

Related terms

• paucity
• poor

Translations

Pronoun

few

1. Few people, few things.

   Many are called, but few are chosen.

Antonyms

• many

Translations

References

• Meteorology (both senses)

  NOAA Glossary: f

Middle English

Determiner

few

1. Alternative form of fewe