I've heard people say for example "It was too little too late". But isn't it more suitable to use "a" instead of "too" there?
English is not my first language so I am sorry if this is an obvious question
Learn English – Why do people say “too little too xyz” instead of “a little too xyz”
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Sport is a singular noun ("a sport"), whereas sports is not only the plural of sport, but also by convention refers to the general category of all sports. Example: "Tennis is a sport. Tom likes sports, but Harry only likes one sport."
Regarding phrases like "sport(s?) shoes": the way it is usually spoken, you can't hear the difference anyway, so the question is a bit esoteric. BUT the "correct" version (in AmE) would be sports shoes because we are talking about the category of sports. If the shoes are intended for one sport only, then you would say the name of the sport: "baseball shoes".
There are a number of terms for sporting events. Unfortunately each can have its own particular term:
The most generic is "game":
Enjoy the game!
This is appropriate for sports like baseball, football/soccer, basketball, and so on.
Tennis, however plays a match, as does boxing and other one-on-one sports/games.
A single boxing (or other fighting sport) match can also be called a bout.
Golfers play a round of golf, but a complete set of rounds, often over a period of days is called a tournament.
Other sports can also have tournaments, especially when each contestant plays against more than one opponent. For example, a table tennis tournament will consist of a series of matches, with players being eliminated until you get to the final match to determine the tournament winner.
Race is appropriate for sports that are contests of speed -- biking, running, horse racing, auto racing, etc.
A collective event which might have many different types of sports all going on at the same time can be called a meet. Sports such as "track and field" or swimming have meets against their opponents, where all the different events go on at the same time, in different areas.
Some sports have their own unique terminology. Cricket, for example, calls their games a Test match or simply a Test (although there are variations with other names).
This is not meant to be a complete list, but it should be enough to get started.
Best Answer
The two things mean something rather different. "Too little, too late" indicates there was two shortfalls, "a little too late" indicates there was one shortfall.
Here the speaker is indicating both that there was too little effort on the homework and that that effort was applied too late.
Here the speaker indicates only that the effort was too late, and the lateness was only a little lateness. Nothing is said of the size of the effort, only its tardiness.