Learner selects the word for smallness that names why the thing is small, rather than only that it is.
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Six sentences using the same word correctly, and six different things being said.
- The council charges a small fee for the licence — one pound a year.
- Small traces of the compound were found in the water.
- The company planted forty trees beside a development of nine hundred homes: a small gesture.
- There is small evidence that the scheme changed behaviour.
- The inspector spent four minutes in the building and signed the form: a small inspection.
- The small difference between the two figures does not affect the argument.
Every one is grammatical. Small is accurate in all six.
And it means something different in each. Before you read on, try to say what — not what is small, but in what way.
The six dimensions, one at a time, with the claim each one commits you to.
trivial — small in importance. It says the thing does not matter, which is a judgement about significance and not about size. A trivial difference may be numerically large; what you are claiming is that it changes nothing.
minute — small in physical quantity or fineness. Minute traces, minute adjustments, in minute detail. Note that last one: applied to detail it flips to mean extremely fine-grained, which is thoroughness, not deficiency.
nominal — small as a formality, or existing in name only. A nominal fee is charged so that a charge exists, not to raise money. A nominal head of state holds the title and not the power. The claim is about purpose.
Six ordinary scenes. Each one is small, and no two are small in the same way.
All six are small. Not one of them is small in the same way as any other.
Six situations. Pick the word naming the right dimension — and twice, notice that no dimension has been established.
For each item, ask the sprint's question first: small in what way?
In two of the six the honest answer is in no particular way, and the plain word is the precise one. Those two are the items worth getting right.
A landowner leases a field to a cricket club for £1 a year, on a 99-year lease, explicitly so that a legal tenancy exists. Which word?
Three chains. Name the dimension before you name the word — and once, find that there isn't one.
Chain 1
The sentence to complete: The regulator found ______ evidence that the warnings had been read by anyone in the department.
Context: the regulator was looking for a record of receipt and found almost none.
Candidates: scant / small
Step 1 — Small in what way, and does the context establish it?
Step 2 — Therefore the expert writes: The regulator found evidence that the warnings had been read.
Chain 2
The sentence to complete: A developer of nine hundred homes planted forty trees on the site boundary and issued a press release about its environmental commitment.
You are writing the sentence that names what the planting was.
Candidates: token / small
Step 1 — Which dimension does the press release establish?
Step 2 — Therefore the expert writes: The planting was a gesture.
Chain 3
The sentence to complete: Between 2019 and 2023 the gap between the two regions narrowed by ______ amount.
Context: the figure moved from 11.2% to 10.9%. Nothing has been said about whether that matters, whether it was enough, or how it was achieved.
Candidates: a trivial / a small
Step 1 — Has any dimension been established?
Step 2 — Therefore the expert writes: The gap narrowed by amount.