Which bag has more apples?

[Renegade_Turner]

As mentioned, few is relative while several is precise. If that's the case, then if a number of apples in the orchard is not presented it is safe to say that there are a lot.

Where did the orchard come out of?

Also, "several" is not precise. It's got a more narrow definition than "a few" does, but that doesn't make it precise.

Therefore a few can nearly always be assumed to be more than 3, which is more than several.

How can "a few" be assumed to be more than 3, considering "a few" can mean as little as 2, and "several" can only mean as little as 3? Your posts are based on illogical presumptions.

[Sandurz]

I always thought that a few meant more than three. I don't really know though, anyone try a dictionary?

[tokage]

I always thought that a few meant more than three. I don't really know though, anyone try a dictionary?

Well, Ren did.

"a few(a): more than one but indefinitely small in number; "a few roses"; "a couple of roses""

Source: http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=a%20few

[m3nace]

imho
several is more than 2 or 3
whereas a few is just more than one

[Armored Wolf]

Several is more. Few is less.

[Untadaike]

Several is more. Few is less.

Of course. Anyone who thinks otherwise must be one of those communist oppressor Arab terrorist types. duh. \sarcasm.

[Grayswandir]

Several is more. Few is less.

Of course. Anyone who thinks otherwise must be one of those communist oppressor Arab terrorist types. duh. \sarcasm.

You're using sarcasm wrong again.

[Renegade_Turner]

Why is it that the only debate that I can form any constructive feedback towards lately is one about language semantics?

[BlackHole]

Several means "more then 1". Few means "a small amount". Go figure.

- Black
In politics, you have your word and your friends; go back on either and you're dead.

[Armored Wolf]

Several means "more then 1". Few means "a small amount". Go figure.

- Black
In politics, you have your word and your friends; go back on either and you're dead.

According to that, Few could very possibly me more than Several.

[tokage]

I know, I said, I stay out of this, but I just stared at the two options* and I probably realized what all the fuss is about. The two words roughly express the same thing, a quantity of apples that is between no or a single apple and many apples. But they do so in different ways by specifying what is not meant. 'few' is characterized as being not many. 'several' is being characterized as being not one or zero. So the sharp boundary is to different sides, I guess. That is all, thank you.



*(I know, I'll get a life at the next opportunity)

[BlackHole]

It's about math. In this example, I assume using a (theoretical) bag with unlimited capacity. Also, apples cannot be broken into pieces.

Now:
"Few" contains all numbers from one to infinity:



"Several" contains all numbers from two to infinity. It does not contain 1, since it has to be more then 1.



This means that a bag with "Several" apples contains . We cannot calculate the exact percentage since we're using infinity. But we can conclude that the the result is larger then zero:


This means that, theoretical, there is a larger chance of a bag with "several" apples containing more apples then a bag with a "few" apples.

- Black
I chose not to choose life: I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?

[tokage]

BlackHole, this math seems extremely fishy to me. (Especially because you just multiplied with 100% which really is the same as multiplying with 1.) Care to elaborate or was this only to show off your flashy greasemonkey (or whatever you use) math scripts?

[BlackHole]

Actually, I was busy studying for my maths exam while reading this topic.

Offtopic: I know multiplying with 100% won't make any (mathematical) difference. It's a common way of notating that the result of this calculation is in percentages
(in economics... I'm studying on that too)

- Black
There are no stupid questions, only stupid people.

[Armored Wolf]

Someone misused the off-topic tag again! It looks like this:


Offtopic stuff in here