quite a few / a fairly large number of / not a little /plenty of

Question

Would all the sentences below mean almost the same?

(a) There were quite a few people at the party yesterday.
(b) There were a fairly large number of people at the party yesterday.
(c) There were not a little people at the party yesterday.
(d) There were plenty of people at the party yesterday.

Thanks in advance.

Hirashin

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

( c ) is ungrammatical.
You could also say "lots of people."

Hirashin · Answer

Thanks for the help, AlpheccaStars.

How would you use the phrase "not a little" then? Is it used in daily conversation?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

"Little," meaning a small amount, is only used with non-count nouns..

There was not just a little rain last week; there was a deluge.
There is (a) little milk in the fridge.
The man did not give anything to the homeless woman, he had little money himself. (he was himself quite poor).

Hirashin · Answer

Thanks, Alphecca Stars.

Would (e) be commonly used, then? Does it have the same meaning as (a)?

(e) There were not a few people at the party yesterday.

Hirashin

AlpheccaStars · Answer

hirashinWould (e) be commonly used, then?

No.

hirashin(e) There were not a few people at the party yesterday.

We don't usually express numbers or quantities in a negative sense.

eg. Three people were not at the party yesterday.
does not mean that the total number who attended was not three.

quite a few / a fairly large number of / not a little /plenty of

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