have handful of work

[Anonymous]

I heard someone say "He has handful of work right now." instead of "He has his hands full with work right now." Is this statement wrong or it can mean he is tied up with a lot of work now? I would appreciate your help.

[Rusty]

I heard someone say "He has handful of work right now." instead of "He has his hands full with work right now." Is this statement wrong or it can mean he is tied up with a lot of work now? I would appreciate your help.

("He has a handful of work right now" means that he has a lot of work to do. It is not exactly the same expression as "has his hands full" which means he has reached his capacity, but the two expressions are very similar).

[Anonymous]

<b>Thank you very much for your explanation. Now I know how to use those phrases properly.</b>

[Anonymous]

Am I correct in saying "He has only a handful of work." means "He has only a small amount of work."? Thank you very much in advance.

[Rusty]

Am I correct in saying "He has only a handful of work." means "He has only a small amount of work."? Thank you very much in advance.

(Handful is a word that can mean either a little or a lot, so you have to be careful how you use it. <u>Only</u> a handful means a little, not much.
<u>A</u> handful means quite a lot. You can make it clearer by saying, quite a handful, a real handful/a mere handful, only a handful).

[Anonymous]

Sounds like "few". "Only a few people showed up." VS "Quite a few people showed up." Thank you very much for your instruction!

[Rusty]

That's right.