remove () from category number [closed]

This should make you good to go:

$args = array(                 
  'hide_empty' => FALSE,                 
  'title_li'=> __( '' ),                 
  'show_count'=> 1,             
  'echo' => 0
);             

$links = wp_list_categories($args);
$links = str_replace('</a> (', '</a> <span>', $links);
$links = str_replace(')', '</span>', $links);

echo $links;

The ( and ) were in the code.

And if you only want to show 6 categories replace the $args part with:

$args = array(                 
  'hide_empty' => FALSE,                 
  'title_li'=> __( '' ),                 
  'show_count'=> 1,             
  'echo' => 0,
  'number' => 6
);