When you say "a couple of"???

Non-native   Sat Jun 13, 2009 4:51 pm GMT
When a native English speaker says, "a couple of" something, does that exactly refer to "two" of those things?

For example,
"I met him a couple of days ago."
Does this mean "I met him two days ago."?

Also,
"There are a couple of factors to consider."
= "There are two factors to consider."

"We need a couple of extra handouts."
= "We need two extra handouts."

Does "a couple of" always mean "two" or can it be 3 or 4?
moo   Sat Jun 13, 2009 6:50 pm GMT
No "a couple of" does always. two. It's essentially the same as "a few". It just means a small amount of.
Lo   Sat Jun 13, 2009 9:29 pm GMT
No "a couple of" means "some" so it can mean 2, 3, 4, you never know lol. It's also common to say "a couple" instead of "a couple of"
Fermiheaper   Wed Jun 17, 2009 6:56 am GMT
Does anybody remeber the movie scene, where the King of France is asked if he had as many mistresses as people say, and he responds: How many are a lot?
How many are <many?>
And then of course, one ought to ask: How many are a heap?
:D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorites_paradox
Kevin   Wed Jun 17, 2009 7:02 am GMT
I am not sure about "a couple of"

but I always say "a few of" instead, when I want to mention something with a number more than two:)
Heaper   Wed Jun 17, 2009 7:40 am GMT
A few lovers ?
A couple of lovers ?
A lot of lovers ?
Many lovers ?
A heap of lovers ?
Non-native   Wed Jun 17, 2009 8:39 am GMT
How many are "a couple of", "a few" and "several" relatively?

Several > A few > A couple of

Is this right?
Kaeops   Wed Jun 17, 2009 9:36 am GMT
Several > A few > A couple of


no,
all mean the same: SOME [xx]


some, several, a few, a couple of


and are different than MANY [xxx, xxxx, xxxxx] or FEW [x]


''a couple of'' is similar to ''ein paar'' in German (one pair, literally )
upstater   Wed Jun 17, 2009 10:00 am GMT
<<How many are "a couple of", "a few" and "several" relatively?

Several > A few > A couple of

Is this right? >>

Sounds right to me. Most of the time:

none/no = approximately 0
a = approximately 1
a couple of = approximately 2
a few = roughly 3 to 5, more than 2
several = more than 3, probably less than 10

If you're talking about fractions of a large population, of course "few" could actually mean millions, buillions, trillions, etc.:

"There are few albinos on this planet."
"There are relatively few atoms of U235."
Kaeops   Wed Jun 17, 2009 10:33 am GMT
A couple of days can mean 4, 6 or even 8 days.
Leasnam   Wed Jun 17, 2009 6:08 pm GMT
<<A couple of days can mean 4, 6 or even 8 days. >>

I have to disagree. If you told me you would pay me for work done to your garage in a couple of days and it turned out to really be 8 days I'd be pissed.

A couple of = 2, or approximately 2 (i.e. 3), otherwise it is a few, or several

I would call 8 days "several" days from now
Phil - English Teacher   Fri Jun 19, 2009 10:26 am GMT
Literally, the word 'couple' means 'two together'.

Unfortunately, English speakers around the world react to questions so fast that they do not refer to the exact literal meaning. I have heard people say that they are going away for a 'couple of days' and mean a week. I have said (by reflex, not by intention) 'couple of days' when I meant 3 or 4 days.

Please don't refer to contextual conversation or written text for literal definitions - instead use a professional English to English dictionary. However, you will need to learn how to identify contextual and colloquial use of English too, and that's when you should refer to colloquial/contextual speech and writing.
Cooltoad   Sun Jun 21, 2009 6:00 pm GMT
Agreed Professor, couple means 'two together'. But thats literally. Its also used in a contextual speech as well. And in that case, when you are not sure of the figure, but you know the figure is small you use 'a couple of'.

"Short words are best and the old words when short are best of all." - Winston Churchill
www.vocabularybuilding.org
Pollack   Fri Jun 26, 2009 1:18 pm GMT
I once heard in a movie that someone asked for a couple of drinks in a bar and got two. The bar attendant didn't ask any extra questions.

So..if you were a bar attendant and someone asked you: "A couple of drinks, please", would you know how many they want?
Leasnam   Fri Jun 26, 2009 2:12 pm GMT
<<So..if you were a bar attendant and someone asked you: "A couple of drinks, please", would you know how many they want? >>

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