Several young Men at the Universities, terribly possessed with the fear of Pedantry, run into a worse Extream. The many meaning is now primarily a dialectal use, fortunately. In use, the connotation of several is that it represents more than a few.
We have one helpful citation in our files, sent there by a science editor:. When he looked at the planet Jupiter, Galileo found that it was accompanied by several small satellites or moons that orbited around it. Hawking, A Brief History of Time , Verdict: in common use, several is often more than a couple and a few , though it is sometimes the same as both and occasionally more than a few.
Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Log in Sign Up. What to Know Couple is used when referring to two things, as in "a couple of days ago," whereas few and several are less specific. More Words At Play. Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Oct. Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Nov. Time Traveler. Love words? You can see that in that seven in Norwegian is sju, in German its sieben, etc.
Several on the other hand comes from latin. It generally means years of experience in a professional setting. Several means that there are more than two or three but still not many. It has a similar definition to few, but the amounts are relative depending on the situation. It must be followed by a plural noun. Whileas in Korea in Korean English education throughout the country—or at least the southern half, this topic is formally covered. It sounds nuts, and English is nuts. Perhaps it would be 2 cubed 8 , or 3 squared 9?
I loved the comment from Boston, n MA. The difference between a few, and several is that several is indicative of a number, with numerous suggestions above being appropriate, but a few indicates a percentage. A few bad apples in a barrel might indicate 10 or 20, but a few bad eggs in a dozen might be two or three. Interesting read. Had to concede this one to the wife.
This is exactly right. If a couple were a synonym for two, it would be a pointless word, the whole point of it being to include more than just 2 unless you are talking about two things that are always joined together, like 2 people in a close relationship. Of course the right answer to these questions is always i it depends where you are, as local customs differ, and ii the context is also important. So who came? Tina and Jane. Is that all? Oh, I thought you said a few.
But if you asked your Dad if you could have a few friends over to watch the game, he would not be happy when 15 friends showed up. An employee text me this morning to say they were running a few minutes late. I was always watching a few squirrels or some birds out the window, or having several words with Mark who sat next to the window.
I do remember that two is correct for a couple because that was how many erasers would come zinging my way to bring me back to attention. The way I was taught in school is that a couple is subjective and can mean 2 or more but is based on the power of twos.
If you go back and count them, there were 8. We reserve the right not to publish comments based on such concerns as redundancy, incivility, untimeliness, poor writing, etc.
All comments must include the first and last name of the author in the NAME field and a valid e-mail address. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. With a straight face, he said from three to A couple is 2. Several is 6, 7, 8, or 9.
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