請問PP 語法 small 跟little的用法

ustoday

在作PP test1 第131題時 發現自己不了解 small 跟little的用法差別

附上題目  希望知道的人能說一說 謝謝

131. As sweeteners, there is very small difference
    between honey and sucrose, although the former
    does contain minimal quantities of vitamins, minerals,
    and amino acids.

Diana

small用来形容可数名词，little形容不可数名词。difference是不可数，所以这里应该用little。

yongchou

Diana ,
What a wonderful explanation.
( When I first got this Q, I could only have the feeling that "small difference ?", it doesn't sound right. It should at least be " a small difference "-(when you use it as a countable noun), but not here as "very + a small difference" is definitely wrong.

we have-------small cars
but not-------small water

Thank you

困难是弹簧

yongchou兄，呵呵，DianaMM可是牛MM哦，想当年。。。

ustoday

謝謝 ~
真是太棒了 就是忘了可數與不可數
我還得多多加油

xiang1jp

In addition,

Small is for shape (size etc.). means "xiao"
Little is for degree/extent. means "shao"

e.g. small girl - emphasis size small but not age
      little girl - emphasis age young but not size

In here, the "difference" need an adj to express degree "shao".

Hope it helps

yongchou

以下是引用xiang1jp在2003-7-9 21:45:00的发言：

In here, the "difference" need an adj to express degree "shao".

The context here does need a meaning of "degree", but it doesn't mean you can only use "little". It's just that to use "small", we need to use "a small difference" or "small differences" here.

Diana

以下是引用困难是弹簧在2003-7-9 17:35:00的发言：
yongchou兄，呵呵，DianaMM可是牛MM哦，想当年。。。

别、别夸偶，弹簧兄，当年所谓的“牛MM”被托福绊了N个跟头了……

Diana

以下是引用yongchou在2003-7-9 16:55:00的发言：
Diana ,
What a wonderful explanation.
( When I first got this Q, I could only have the feeling that "small difference ?", it doesn't sound right. It should at least be " a small difference "-(when you use it as a countable noun), but not here as "very + a small difference" is definitely wrong.

we have-------small cars
but not-------small water

Thank you

yongchou兄，仔细看了你的解释，发现偶的想法其实也有错：difference应该即可以做可数名词，也可以做不可数。又长见识了，谢谢yongchou兄点拨。

lucyyyh

我觉得little 一般是修饰抽象n的,但是small一般修饰具体n,在这里,different是抽象n,所以用little修饰比较好.
而且原句中强调的是"细微的差别"or "几乎没有差别",故用little 好一些.