Small vs Little
Small and Little are two words that are often confused when it comes to their meanings and connotations. Small refers to size only. It is a word considered to be the opposite of ‘big’ or ‘large’
The word ‘little’ on the other hand is used to express some emotion or sometimes an idea of smallness as in the sentence ‘I have decided to look after the poor little thing’. Here the word ‘little’ suggests the emotion of affection on a living being such as a dog or a cat.
In the sentence ‘her brother is a funny little man’, the word ‘little’ is used to suggest an idea of smallness.
On the other hand the word ‘small’ necessarily expresses size as in the sentence ‘It is a small house’. In this sentence you get the idea that the house is small in size by the usage of the word ‘small’. It is interesting to note that the word ‘little’ when suggestive of size includes an adverb too along with it as in the sentence ‘Look at the pretty little house’. In this sentence the word ‘little’ is accompanied by another adjective or adverb called ‘pretty’.
Sometimes the word ‘little’ suggests nothingness of a thing as in the sentence ‘there is little water in the jar’. In this sentence the use of the word ‘little’ only suggests that there is no water at all in the jar. In the same way ‘he knows little’ only suggests ‘he knows nothing’. This is an interesting usage of the word ‘little’. Sometimes the word ‘little’ suggests the meaning of ‘short’ as in the sentence ‘a little while ago she left the home’. In this sentence the word ‘little’ suggests the meaning of ‘short’. These are the important differences between small and little.
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