Another Grammar Lesson

What's the difference between "few" and "several"?

Recently on the teacher forum, a thread was started in which a teacher wanted to know the difference between "few" and "several." The general consensus seems to be that "a couple" is two, "a few" is three to four, and "several" is more than four. One person thought "several" meant "seven or more," which is a common misunderstanding because of the similarity between the words "several" and "seven."

They all are wrong. By definition, "few" and "several" are indicators of indeterminate number. You cannot categorize few and several by number; context matters.

Either "a few squirrels in the tree" or "several dogs on the couch" could refer to approximately three or four critters. Both "a few chips with my sandwich" and "several cookies for dessert" could refer to many more than four things to eat.

"Many are called, few are chosen." "Few things are impossible to diligence and skill." "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." In none of these cases does "few" mean "three." More than three have been chosen, more than three things are impossible, and "the few" of course refer to all of England's RAF, which presumably has more than three pilots in its ranks.

"Several" often means a number separated out from the overall group (and comes from the word for separate). "There were many cats at the shelter; several were tabby-striped."

Both"few" and "several" are terms of uncertain number meaning "more than one but less than many" and many is another uncertain number meaning "a large number." There is no way to place a number on any of these words.

There are many grammar misconceptions out there, but now you know. And the more you know. . .