little, a little ,very little, a very little

[rte.sushil]

I've put a very little sugar into your coffee --1.
I've put very little sugar into your coffee --2.
I've put a little sugar into your coffee --3.
I've put little sugar into your coffee --4.

I think by adding very , very has emphasized on quantity
in 1-- this sugar is very less now
in 2-- this is hardly hadly any sugar (means without very if it was 0.5% now with very , it has reduced further to <0.5%)
so can i say,
2<4<1<3?

[Willy]

I am not sure whether we can come to the conclusion you have reached but here is an interesting link that I found on 'a little' v/s 'little' http://www.learnenglish.be/gr2_few_study.htm

3. Few and little with(out) a
WITH A the meaning is positive:
- He spoke a little English,
so we could talk to him.
- A few customers have come into the shop,
it has been quite busy.

WITHOUT A the meaning is negative:
- He spoke little English,
it was difficult to talk to him.
- Few customers have come into the shop,
it has been quiet.

--quoted from above link.

[rte.sushil]

actually i am clear with the idea of little/few vs very a little/few but i was thinking what if "very" is also there in both little/few and a little/a few.

[tim]

"very" does not convey the level of mathematical precision you seem to be attributing to it. You should avoid using "a very little [anything]" though..