Little and Small
2020-10-17
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Today we answer a question from Brigitte in France. She writes:
2Could you tell me when to use little and when to use small?
3Thank you - Brigitte, France.
4Dear Brigitte,
5Thank you for writing to us.
6The words "little" and "small" may seem to have the same meaning, but they do have different uses.
7First, we can look at them separately.
8We use "little" to talk about a small or unimportant amount of something. For example:
9There is a little dirt on the floor.
10You can also use "little" to describe someone who is young, as in this example:
11The little girls laughed at the dog.
12Note that when the article "a" is placed before "little," it means you do have some amount of a thing.
13She has a little experience with political campaigns.
14But without the article, "little" means you are lacking or missing something.
15I have little need for swimwear in the winter.
16There is an important difference between the words "little" and "small."
17The difference is, when describing an amount, we use "little."
18But when describing the size of someone or something, we use "small." Here is an example:
19The airplane seats are only a good fit for small adults.
20Another different use of "small" is when comparing one thing with another.
21My new phone is smaller than the old one.
22It is not correct to compare amounts with the word "little."
23In spoken English, people add the ending -est to "little" when comparing sizes.
24The word "littlest" is often used when describing sometime cute and very small.
25That is the littlest puppy I have ever seen!
26I hope that helps to answer your question, Brigitte.
27And that's Ask a Teacher.
28What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
29I'm Jill Robbins.
30And I'm Greg Stachel.
1Today we answer a question from Brigitte in France. She writes: 2Question: 3Could you tell me when to use little and when to use small? 4Thank you - Brigitte, France. 5Answer: 6Dear Brigitte, 7Thank you for writing to us. The words "little" and "small" may seem to have the same meaning, but they do have different uses. First, we can look at them separately. 8Little 9We use "little" to talk about a small or unimportant amount of something. For example: 10There is a little dirt on the floor. 11You can also use "little" to describe someone who is young, as in this example: 12The little girls laughed at the dog. 13Note that when the article "a" is placed before "little," it means you do have some amount of a thing. 14She has a little experience with political campaigns. 15But without the article, "little" means you are lacking or missing something. 16I have little need for swimwear in the winter. 17Small 18There is an important difference between the words "little" and "small." The difference is, when describing an amount, we use "little." But when describing the size of someone or something, we use "small." Here is an example: 19The airplane seats are only a good fit for small adults. 20Another different use of "small" is when comparing one thing with another. 21My new phone is smaller than the old one. 22It is not correct to compare amounts with the word "little." In spoken English, people add the ending -est to "little" when comparing sizes. The word "littlest" is often used when describing sometime cute and very small. 23That is the littlest puppy I have ever seen! 24I hope that helps to answer your question, Brigitte. 25And that's Ask a Teacher. 26What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com 27I'm Jill Robbins. 28And I'm Greg Stachel. 29Jill Robbins wrote this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. 30_______________________________________________________________ 31Words in This Story 32article - n. grammar. a word (such as a, an, or the) that is used with a noun to show whether or not the noun refers to a specific person or thing 33cute - adj. having a pleasing and usually youthful appearance 34puppy - n. a young dog 35Do you have a question for the teacher? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.