# How many, to you, is "a few" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 22, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811 "2005-12-22T16:30:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/1 "2005-12-22T16:30:12Z")
Obviously, the answer depends on context but, if the question were presented to you without any other reference point, how many constitute a “few”? This is a question that came about in the office, and there was a surprising (at least to me) amount of consistency to the answers. My answer was part of the minority opinion. Please consider and answer the question before reading the results of my informal survey. My original answer, “it depends on what you’re talking about” was summarily dismissed, hence the phrasing of my OP. When pressed to it, I said “about 5.” Two other people agreed, but most of the respondents answered “3.” I don’t think there were any answers outside this range. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/2 "2005-12-22T16:35:42Z")
Three, four, or five. “Several” starts at six. ---
**Author:** ![La\_Llorona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@La\_Llorona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/La_Llorona)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/3 "2005-12-22T16:39:06Z")
Three. Maybe four. _Maybe_, if you’re stretching it, five. Almost certainly not six. Probably not two (that’s “a couple!”). ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/4 "2005-12-22T16:42:29Z")
Three or more. How many more depends on how humorous I’m feeling. “There were a few mosquitoes up at the lake this summer.” ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/5 "2005-12-22T16:45:28Z")
Three or four. ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/6 "2005-12-22T16:50:27Z")
Three to five. More than five is “many”. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/7 "2005-12-22T16:52:47Z")
A few is more than a couple and less than several. So 3 or 4 if dealing with a small group. But if I say a few out of thousands, I could be including any number over to and probably up to 20 or 30. So I guess there is a sliding scale. Jim ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/8 "2005-12-22T16:55:20Z")
A trilogy. Including a Douglas Adams trilogy, if pressed. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/9 "2005-12-22T16:56:17Z")
I haven’t looked at the spoiler, but I must follow the crowd here and say 3 or 4. I once set myself the task of organizing the non-specific quantity words into ascending order. I had few near the bottom with several coming soon after. I got into trouble with passle, shitpot and googob. Likewise with heap, bunch, gaggle and oodles. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/10 "2005-12-22T16:56:25Z")
Three to five. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/11 "2005-12-22T17:00:03Z")
“A few”, to me, means “three” in absence of context. “Several” means “seven” in absence of context. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/12 "2005-12-22T17:02:02Z")
Haven’t read the spoiler or any intervening posts (will go back after posting this and do so) – I’d say “a few” is three to five. ---
**Author:** ![NoPretentiousCodename](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/82dd89/32.png) [@NoPretentiousCodename](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoPretentiousCodename)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/13 "2005-12-22T17:05:29Z")
In most cases a few is fewer than ten. Like a few jelly beans. Certainly more than two or three, IMO. Two or three is called a couple-three. Like I had a couple-three jelly beans. 😃 Maybe around 5 would be an average amount of few. ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/14 "2005-12-22T17:24:36Z")
Three to five. ---
**Author:** ![Tevildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Tevildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tevildo)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/15 "2005-12-22T17:28:43Z")
Bucking the trend here - I would say three is still “a couple of”, rather than “a few”. 4-6 in the absence of context. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/16 "2005-12-22T17:40:26Z")
Three or four. Five and six are getting into “several.” ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/17 "2005-12-22T17:48:20Z")
The correct answer is three or four. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/18 "2005-12-22T18:15:21Z")
Nope. A few is five. That’s all there is to it. ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/19 "2005-12-23T02:23:17Z")
A few is three, four at a stretch. A handful is five or six and several is seven to 12. mm ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/20 "2005-12-23T05:19:58Z")
I don’t know where we got it, but my sister and I used to have a saying as kids: “A few goes up to nine”. By the results of this thread so far, we seem to be in the minority. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811.md?page=2)