a bit / a little
- Thread starter cissekou
- Start date
orlando09
Senior Member
English (England)
Les deux signifient " un peu de" , mais on dit " a bit of" mais seulement " a little..." (pas "of"). " A bit of" est plus courant que " a little"
Jean-Michel Carrère
Senior Member
French from France
Am I right in thinking that "a bit of" can only be used with solids (a bit of bread / a bit of cheese) and that "a little" has to be used with liquids and semi-liquids (a little soup / a little water) ?
orlando09
Senior Member
English (England)
As a broad rule that sounds OK - literally, a "bit" often means a " small piece of", but it is not always used like that. It is actually possible to say in normal conversational English - " I'd like a bit of milk in my tea" etc (in the sens of " a small quantity of), but perhaps it is not strictly the best usage. I can imagine a recipe saying : add a little (small quantity of) grated cheese to the dish" , for example, but generally if it is something solid, " bit" does sound better - I'd like a bit of bread with cheese sounds right rather than "a little bread". Sorry if that is not helping you "understand it once and for all" ... sometimes you just have to get used to what sounds OK and what doesn't, by experience...
i agree with the above... i would say 'a bit' is better used in things that can be quantified
'a little' can also be used in quantities (and often followed by 'a bit' eg there is a little bit of milk left over; a little laughter goes a long way) but but can be used more qualitatively too (eg he just needs a little push). In the last example, a push is not something that can really be measured, but here, we are indicating that it would be a subtle push and not a harsh one.
If you compare laughter and push: one can say a little laughter or lots of laughter to indicate how much of it there is. If we were to say 'lots of push' (eg. There was lots of push and shove in the market) it would imply frequency and not a quantitative descrption of the single push. When we say 'he needed a little push to get going' it is more of a qualititative description of that push...
i hope i havent added more confusion...
'a little' can also be used in quantities (and often followed by 'a bit' eg there is a little bit of milk left over; a little laughter goes a long way) but but can be used more qualitatively too (eg he just needs a little push). In the last example, a push is not something that can really be measured, but here, we are indicating that it would be a subtle push and not a harsh one.
If you compare laughter and push: one can say a little laughter or lots of laughter to indicate how much of it there is. If we were to say 'lots of push' (eg. There was lots of push and shove in the market) it would imply frequency and not a quantitative descrption of the single push. When we say 'he needed a little push to get going' it is more of a qualititative description of that push...
i hope i havent added more confusion...
berrac
Senior Member
French - France
ça ne serait pas "petit bout" et "petit peu"?