quelque (singular)
You will generally only come across the singular form in a very few fixed expressions, such as quelqu'un (someone), quelque part (some where), quelque temps (some time / a while).
quelques (plural)
Used with countable things it means a couple of, some, a few.
Il a quelques livres à lire.
He has a few books to read.
J'ai acheté quelques bougies pour décorer ma chambre.
I bought a couple of candles to decorate my bedroom.
Here also see Quelques, plusieurs, de nombreux = A few, several, many (quantities)
[un] peu de
Used with uncountable quantities, un peu de means a little, abit of
J'ai un peu de lait.
I have a little (bit of) milk.
Tu t'es amusé hier? - Un peu.
Did you enjoy yourself yesterday? A bit.
and peu de means little, not much of, few
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
J'ai acheté quelques bougies pour décorer ma chambre.
I bought a couple of candles to decorate my bedroom.
J'ai quelques amis qui vont me rendre visite.
I have some friends who are going to visit me.
Elle a peu d'amis.
She has few friends.
Je la connais depuis quelque temps.
I've known her for some time.
J'ai un peu de lait.
I have a little (bit of) milk.
Tu t'es amusé hier? - Un peu.
Did you enjoy yourself yesterday? A bit.
Nous avons peu d'argent.
We have little money.
We haven't got much money.
Il a quelques livres à lire.
He has a few books to read.
Q&A Forum 10 questions, 18 answers
MartinKwiziq community member
Why does "I've got few friends" translate to "J'ai peu d'amis" and not "J'ai peu des amis"?
Asked 2 months ago
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Peu specifies a certain quantity and after quantities you don't use the partitive article.
Tu as des amis? -- Do you have friends? (Here you need the partitive article because no specific quantity is specified).
Martin asked:View original
Why does "I've got few friends" translate to "J'ai peu d'amis" and not "J'ai peu des amis"?
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JoanKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Any difference between 'quelque' and 'un peu de' when both mean 'a bit of'? Are they interchangeable?
Il a quelque difficulté à se concentrer pour faire ses devoirs
Il a un peu de difficulté à se concentrer pour faire ses devoirs
Asked 7 months ago
Hi Joan,
That's an interesting question and it did get me thinking...
Quelque in the singular means some in English, in other words, an indeterminate amount of something.
e.g.
Ils habitent à quelque distance de chez nous = They live some distance/way from our house
Il y a quelque temps que je ne l'ai pas vu = I have not seen him for some time
so, in your example -
He has some difficulty in concentrating = Il a quelque difficulté à se concentrer
Quelques in the plural can mean some too but also a few -
Il a quelques amis chez lui pour le weekend = He has to a few friends to stay at the weekend
Elle a réfléchi quelques instants avant de répondre = She pondered for a few instants before answering
J'ai quelques problèmes en ce moment = I have a few problems at the moment
'Un peu de' is more specific as it means, a small amount of -
un peu de = a small quantity ( a bit of - a little )
e.g.
Je demande un peu de calme = I am asking for a bit of calm
Il a un peu de sinusite en ce moment = He has a touch of sinusitis at the moment
Hope this helps!
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Il a quelques difficultés à se concentrer. -- He has some difficulties to concentrate.
Il a un peu de difficulté à se concentrer. -- He has a bit of difficulty to concentrate.
They come close in their meaning but still, there is some difference. I certainly have some difficulty in describing it in any meaningful way. Maybe you can get the difference by staring at the example sentences? The input of a native speaker would certainly be helpful, too.
Joan asked:View original
Any difference between 'quelque' and 'un peu de' when both mean 'a bit of'? Are they interchangeable?
Il a quelque difficulté à se concentrer pour faire ses devoirs
Il a un peu de difficulté à se concentrer pour faire ses devoirs
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BlakeKwiziq community member
In reference to the question with "Georges a acheté quelques livres au marché."
Why can't a valid answer be "George bought four or so books at the market?" In English, a few could possibly mean "four or so." "Few" is a vaguely definable quantity in English -- does "quelques" mean something more specific in French, or is this a matter of question/answer construction?
Asked 1 year ago
Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Blake,
I would translate "quelques" as "some" in this phrase.
Without a definite quoted number in the phrase, personally I would not be inclined to put a number in the translated text.
Blake asked:View original
In reference to the question with "Georges a acheté quelques livres au marché."
Why can't a valid answer be "George bought four or so books at the market?" In English, a few could possibly mean "four or so." "Few" is a vaguely definable quantity in English -- does "quelques" mean something more specific in French, or is this a matter of question/answer construction?
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RobKwiziq community member
Elle a peu d'amis. She has few friends. Il a quelques livres à lire. He has a few books to read.
Asked 1 year ago
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Hi Rob,
peu is the opposite of beaucoup. And quelques is "a few". Maybe you could say peu is "few" and quelques is "a few"
However you want to translate this into English, it's best to try grasp the meaning in French first. Often it isn't possible to make a 1:1 correspondence between English and French.
-- Chris.
Rob asked:View original
Elle a peu d'amis. She has few friends. Il a quelques livres à lire. He has a few books to read.
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KarenKwiziq community member
In the exercise quelques livres is translated as a couple of books as well as some books.
In English I was always taught that strictly "couple" means two and it's a misuse to use it otherwise. Can you explain why quelques therefore translates as some and two? Thank you.
Asked 1 year ago
Hi K,
In my experience, a couple of, in English is used for 2 or thereabouts.
We don't have such an expression for very small approximate quantities in French as they start with the number 10:
Une dizaine, une vingtaine, une trentaine etc.. which mean about 10, 20, 30 ...
so Quelques, meaning a few, ( an indeterminate small quantity) can be some, a few or a couple of depending on the context.
Some will often be 'des'.
Hope this helps!
Karen asked:View original
In the exercise quelques livres is translated as a couple of books as well as some books.
In English I was always taught that strictly "couple" means two and it's a misuse to use it otherwise. Can you explain why quelques therefore translates as some and two? Thank you.
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NabeelKwiziq community member
Can we say (un peu d’argent) ? And will it make a difference in meaning form ( peu d’argent)
Asked 1 year ago
Hi Nabeel,
yes, there's a slight difference in meaning.
un peu d'argent -- a bit of money.
peu d'argent -- little money.
For example:
Il ne me faut qu'un peu d'argent pour ça. -- I only need a little bit of money for that.
Il est pauvre. Il a peu d'argent. -- He is poor. He is little money.
Hope that helps, -- Chris (not a native speaker).
Nabeel asked:View original
Can we say (un peu d’argent) ? And will it make a difference in meaning form ( peu d’argent)
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StewartKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Pourrais-je avoir un peu de lait? Why is it not 'du lait' as in "pourrais-je avoir du lait?"
Asked 2 years ago
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Because there is an amount specified for the milk ("un peu") you don't use the article, just "de". If you say "je voudrais du lait' you're just asking for some milk, no amount specified, hence the article which makes "de" to "du".
There is a specific lesson dedicated to the partitive article.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
AurélieKwiziq team member
Bonjour Stewart !
Indeed, with expression of quantity like "beaucoup de, un peu de...", you will only use "du" if you mean "a lot of the, a bit of the", as such:
Indeed, with expression of quantity like "beaucoup de, un peu de...", you will only use "du" if you mean "a lot of the, a bit of the", as such:
Je bois un peu de lait.
I drink a bit of milk.
Je bois un peu du lait que j'ai trouvé dans le frigo.
I drink a bit of the milk that I found in the fridge.
I drink a bit of milk.
Je bois un peu du lait que j'ai trouvé dans le frigo.
I drink a bit of the milk that I found in the fridge.
Here's our lesson about partitive articles:
https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/du-de-la-de-l-are-used-to-express-some-or-any-partitive-articles
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Stewart asked:View original
Pourrais-je avoir un peu de lait? Why is it not 'du lait' as in "pourrais-je avoir du lait?"
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AurélieKwiziq team member
Bonjour Doraida !
Here the distinction is about whether to use "un peu de" (uncountable) versus "peu de" (countable): you will need the "de" in both cases.
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
PaulKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Aurélie, I recommend making the distinction between "a few friends" translated as "quelques" and "few friends" translated as "peu de" clearer in this lesson. As wriiten in the lesson, the usage of quelques and peu de appears to depend on countable and uncountable things. quelques (plural)
Used with countable things it means a couple of, some, a few.
[un] peu deUsed with uncountable quantities, un peu de means a little, a bit of
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AndrewKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Il a quelques amis
Would "Il a quelques amis" be the same as "Il a peu d'amis"?
Asked 3 years ago
I think I worked it out sorry...
Il a quelques amis = he has A FEW friends
Il a peu d'amis = he has FEW friends
Il a quelques amis = he has A FEW friends
Il a peu d'amis = he has FEW friends
MichaelKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
J'ai fait le même erreur. On peut toujours profiter de lire les questions. ;-)
JoanKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
But the lesson above says that 'peu de' only used with uncountable quantities, whereas ami is countable, why 'ami' can be used with 'peu de'?
Andrew asked:View original
Il a quelques amis
Would "Il a quelques amis" be the same as "Il a peu d'amis"?
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