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You're right to separate out あまり - that's used quite differently.-悪魔- said:They all are basically use these words the same way, especially 少し and ちょっと
Elizabeth said:I think of chotto as being more conversational and not used as much for a small number/ quantity of something. 米が少ししかの残っていないです (We only have a little rice left) rather than ちょっとしか....but I'm not sure this is a real distinction or not.
I'm willing to bet small amounts of money that your example sentence does not sound natural.lzydesmond said:少しmeans a few (sometimes a little) and is used like saying please buy a few apples,
少しりんごを買ってください。
What dictionary was that?lzydesmond said:For 少し、I actually checked the dic and copied the sentence in, so ...
Elizabeth said:Used like these EDICT sentences it becomes more natural, maybe....:?
私は卵とミルクを少し買いました。 [T]
I bought a few eggs and a little milk.
私は卵を少しとミルクを少し買いました。
lzydesmond said:zzz confused me now ...
Anyhow, just as many apples is 'takusan no ringo,' to make 'few' refer directly to the number of apples probably also takes a pattern like such :lzydesmond said:zzz confused me now ...
That's exactly what I thought when I first came across the 'すこし' example sentence - but Google wasn't too keen on the idea.Elizabeth said:(数個のりんご?)
That's usually for things like すこしのあいだ though isn't it?Elizabeth said:According to my dictionary there is a 'sukoshi no' as well,
Not the same as 'few' though.Elizabeth said:but I would simply stick with "_つのりんご or "_個のりんご to directly modify the number of apples you're after.
Here are some relevant Google results from just the first 10 matching をちょっと買う (of 111)Elizabeth said:And I've yet to come across 'chotto' in the context of a few, only a little....:?
Thanks for link, Glenn. I had always wondered about that difference.Glenn said:By the way, when you place a quantifier before a noun like yottsu no ringo o kudasai, what you are saying is "give me the four apples," and this can't be used when you are saying "give me four (indefinite) apples." You would instead have to say ringo o yottsu kudasai. This is known as the quantifier float.