In: Level B1, Adjectives & Adverbs, Adjectif indéfini

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).

Je la connais depuis quelque temps.I've known her for some time.

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

Nous avons peu d'argent.We have little money.
We haven't got much money.

Elle a peu d'amis.She has few friends.

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Adjectif indéfini

Examples and resources

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.

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.

Q&A Forum 12 questions, 20 answers

MaartenB1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Follow up from Charmond

Cécile

I think Charmond's (and now my) question arises because of ambiguity about the section headed (Un) peu de, where it is stated that «un peu de 'used with uncountable quantities'» etc. The impression given/gained is that this is in contrast to quelque(s) which is noted to be for countable quantities, and applies to the full section. However, on reflection, I think it means only that 'un peu de' is for uncountables, but that 'peu de' is/can be used for countables with a slight difference in meaning/translation when used instead of quelques. Please clarify - and maybe clarify in the lesson too! Thanks

Asked 2 days ago

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Maarten asked:View original

Follow up from Charmond

Cécile

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CharmondC1Kwiziq community member

peu de

Hello,

Just curious, why is peu de used for friends since they are countable (or should it not be lol)

Or both are accepted?

I have a few friends - j'ai quelques amis

i have few friends - j'ai peu d'amis

Asked 1 week ago

Like0Answer1

CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Charmond,

J'ai quelques amis = I have a few friends ( a small but indeterminate number)

J'ai peu d'amis = I have few friends ( not many)

Hope this helps!

Like11 week ago

Charmond asked:View original

peu de

Hello,

Just curious, why is peu de used for friends since they are countable (or should it not be lol)

Or both are accepted?

I have a few friends - j'ai quelques amis

i have few friends - j'ai peu d'amis

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MartinC1Kwiziq community member

Why does "I've got few friends" translate to "J'ai peu d'amis" and not "J'ai peu des amis"?

Asked 4 months ago

Like0Answer2

CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Martin,

It is -

J'ai peu d'amis = I have few friends

Bonne Continuation!

Like01 week ago

ChrisC1 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).

Like04 months ago

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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JoanA1Kwiziq 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 9 months ago

Like0Answer2

CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

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!

Like08 months ago

ChrisC1 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.

Like09 months ago

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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BlakeC1Kwiziq 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

Like0Answer1

SteveB2 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.

Like01 year ago

Blake asked:View original

In reference to the question with "Georges a acheté quelques livres au marché."

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RobB1Kwiziq 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

Like0Answer1

ChrisC1 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.

Like01 year ago

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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RobB1Kwiziq community member

I don't understand this.

Asked 1 year ago

Like0Answer1

ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

See my reply to your later post.

Like01 year ago

Rob asked:View original

I don't understand this.

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KarenC1Kwiziq 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

Like0Answer1

CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

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!

Like01 year ago

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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NabeelC1Kwiziq 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

Like0Answer1

ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

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).

Like01 year ago

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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StewartC1Kwiziq 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

Like0Answer3

ChrisC1 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).

Like02 years ago

StewartC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Thank you, I now understand.

Like02 years ago

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:

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.

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 !

Like02 years ago

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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DoraidaC1Kwiziq community member

Elle a peu d'amis? But you can count your friends.

Asked 3 years ago

Like1Answer3

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 !

Like13 years ago

DoraidaC1Kwiziq community member

Thank you I think I understand now

Like03 years ago

PaulC1Kwiziq 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 de

Used with uncountable quantities, un peu de means a little, a bit of

Like01 year ago

Doraida asked:View original

Elle a peu d'amis? But you can count your friends.

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AndrewC1Kwiziq 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

Like0Answer4

AndrewC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributorCorrect answer

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

Like33 years ago

AurélieKwiziq team member

Exactement Andrew :)

Like03 years ago

MichaelC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

J'ai fait le même erreur. On peut toujours profiter de lire les questions. ;-)

Like01 year ago

JoanA1Kwiziq 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'?

Like19 months ago

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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Quelque(s) vs (un) peu de = A couple/a few vs a bit of/few (indefinite adjectives)

quelque (singular)

quelques (plural)

[un] peu de

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Adjectif indéfini

Examples and resources

Q&A Forum 12 questions, 20 answers

Follow up from Charmond

Follow up from Charmond

peu de

peu de

Why does "I've got few friends" translate to "J'ai peu d'amis" and not "J'ai peu des amis"?

Why does "I've got few friends" translate to "J'ai peu d'amis" and not "J'ai peu des amis"?

Any difference between 'quelque' and 'un peu de' when both mean 'a bit of'? Are they interchangeable?

Any difference between 'quelque' and 'un peu de' when both mean 'a bit of'? Are they interchangeable?

In reference to the question with "Georges a acheté quelques livres au marché."

In reference to the question with "Georges a acheté quelques livres au marché."

Elle a peu d'amis. She has few friends. Il a quelques livres à lire. He has a few books to read.

Elle a peu d'amis. She has few friends. Il a quelques livres à lire. He has a few books to read.

I don't understand this.

I don't understand this.

In the exercise quelques livres is translated as a couple of books as well as some books.

In the exercise quelques livres is translated as a couple of books as well as some books.

Can we say (un peu d’argent) ? And will it make a difference in meaning form ( peu d’argent)

Can we say (un peu d’argent) ? And will it make a difference in meaning form ( peu d’argent)

Pourrais-je avoir un peu de lait? Why is it not 'du lait' as in "pourrais-je avoir du lait?"

Pourrais-je avoir un peu de lait? Why is it not 'du lait' as in "pourrais-je avoir du lait?"

Elle a peu d'amis? But you can count your friends.

Elle a peu d'amis? But you can count your friends.

Il a quelques amis

Il a quelques amis

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