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- "Tem um pouco de limonada na …
"Tem um pouco de limonada na garrafa."
Translation:There is a little lemonade in the bottle.
16 Comments
When you use little or a little (pouco or um pouco) you are conveying a different attitude towards the quantity. "There is a little" has a positive meaning as in there is some. "There is little" has a negative meaning, as in not enough. http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/few_little.php
I'm afraid my last post is causing some confusion. The two constructions ("pouco/a/os/as" e "um pouco de") has those subtle different meanings just like in English. And yes, "um pouco de" is invariable, but I believe one will only use it with a singular noum (I can't imagine right now a construction with um pouco de + plural noum. We have to check it out). However, "pouco" in this case is variable because, I think, it modifies a noum. Tem poucA água na garrafa. Tem poucAS pessoas na casa. Tem poucO vinho na garrafa. Tem poucOS pratos na mesa. But I also believe that "pouco" does not mean only "not enough". It could be only a fact concerning quantity: "Tem poucas pessoas naquela casa" doesn't imply not enough. (Could this be the difference between "little" and "few"? It's up to you, English speakers, to tell ;-)). You should notice that when "pouco" modifies a verb, then is invariable "Elas estudam pouco a língua inglesa" (I'm not sure how to translate this... sorry for my bad English :-( )
That's very interesting. The purists would say this sentence (tem um pouco de limonada na garrafa) is incorrect. If you want to use the verb "ter" you should say: "A garrafa tem um pouco de limonada" (the bottle has a little bit of lemonade). To be grammatically correct you should use the verb "haver" or the verb "existir" = "Há (Existe) um pouco de limonada na garrafa". But the "incorrect" form is so common that I believe is accepted as correct. In Brazil, everybody uses the verb "ter" meaning "existir".
I've noticed that when "tem" is used at the beginning of a sentence without ele, ela or você it translates as "there is." Also "You have a little of lemonade in the bottle" is not something a native English speaker would say and is grammatically incorrect. However, you could say "There is a little bit of lemonade in the bottle" or "There is a bit of lemonade in the bottle"