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English grammar error-spotting (‘‘a little’’ vs ‘‘little’’ with positive sense): Read the sentence and select the single erroneous part. Sentence: ‘‘There is still / little tea / left in the cup. / No error.’

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: little tea

Explanation:


Concept
‘‘Little’’ (without article) means ‘‘hardly any/insufficient’’ and gives a negative sense. ‘‘A little’’ means ‘‘some (enough)’’ and is used for a positive/neutral statement like ‘‘There is still … left’’.


Correction
Write: ‘‘There is still a little tea left in the cup.’’


Common pitfalls

  • Confusing ‘‘little’’ with ‘‘a little’’ (and ‘‘few’’ with ‘‘a few’’) which flips the meaning.


Final Answer
little tea

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