a few

few

– a few

1. used in front of nouns

Few and a few are both used in front of nouns, but they do not have the same meaning. You use a few simply to show that you are talking about a small number of people or things.

I'm having a dinner party for a few close friends.

Here are a few ideas that might help you.

When you use few without 'a', you are emphasizing that there are only a small number of people or things of a particular kind. So, for example, if you say 'I have a few friends', you are simply saying that you have some friends. However, if you say 'I have few friends', you are saying that you do not have enough friends and are lonely.

There were few resources available.

2. used as pronouns

Few and a few can be used in a similar way as pronouns.

Doctors work an average of 90 hours a week, while a few work up to 120 hours.

Many were invited but few came.

3. 'not many'

In conversation and in less formal writing, people don't usually use few without 'a'. Instead they use not many. For example, instead of saying 'I have few friends', people usually say 'I haven't got many friends' or 'I don't have many friends'.

They haven't got many books.

I don't have many visitors.

Be Careful!
Don't use 'few' or 'a few' when you are talking about a small amount of something. Don't say, for example, 'Would you like a few more milk in your tea?' You say 'Would you like a little more milk in your tea?'

See little - a little

Thesaurus

Adj.

1.

a few - more than one but indefinitely small in number; "a few roses"; "a couple of roses" a couple of few - a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by `a'; a small but indefinite number; "a few weeks ago"; "a few more wagons than usual"; "an invalid's pleasures are few and far between"; "few roses were still blooming"; "few women have led troops in battle"

Translations

قَليل

několiktrochu

en delenkelteet parnogle

ein paareinige

kelkaj

alguno que otrounosunos cuantos

quelques

כמה

nem sok

nokkrir

alcuni

en hel delet par

birkaç

少数

few

(fjuː) adjective, pronoun

not many; a very small number of. Few people visit me nowadays; every few minutes (= very frequently); Such opportunities are few. min; weinig قَليل няколко pouco málo, pár wenige få; ikke ret mange λίγοι, ελάχιστοι pocos mõni, vähesed بسیار کم harva peuמעט कुछ malo njih, nekoliko kevés tidak banyak fáir poco ほとんどない 소수의 nedaug, mažai bieži tidak banyak weinigfåmało څو، لږ pouco puţin немногие; немного málo redek; malo malo få, sällsynta ไม่มาก, เล็กน้อย az sayıda 很少的 мало, небагато کم ، تھوڑے سے không nhiều; ít 很少的

a few

a small number (emphasizing that there are indeed some). There are a few books in this library about geology; We have only a few left. 'n paar; enkele قَليل малко uns poucos několik (málo), trochu einige nogle; en del; enkelte; et par αρκετοί, μερικοίalgunos mõni تعدادی؛ چند تا muutama quelques (-un(e)s) אחדים कुछ par njih néhány, nem sok sedikit nokkrir alcuno, qualche 少数の 작은 수 keletas daži sedikit een paar noen , et par; en hel delkilka څو uns poucos câţiva, câteva несколько niekoľko, pár nekaj mali broj några stycken, några få จำนวนน้อย birkaç 少數 декілька چند ، کچھ một vài; một ít 少数

few and far between

very few. Interesting jobs are few and far between. skaars; dun gesaai قَليل جِدّا рядкост poucos e raros jen tu a tam, ojediněle sehr vereinzelt få; langt imellem; sjælden ελάχιστοι poquísimos, contadísimos, muy escasos haruldane نادر؛ کم olla harvassa rareמעט מאוד इने-गिने, दुर्लभ rijetko koji, poneki néhány sedikit sekali örfáir; sjaldgæfur raro ごくまれな 극히 적은 labai nedaug reti sangat sedikit schaars langt mellom rzadki لږ poucos e raros rar редкие zriedkavý zelo malo redak tunnsådda, sällsynta น้อยมาก ender, çok seyrek 稀少 рідкі بڑے بڑے وقفوں سے thất thường 稀少

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few means `not many'.
a few means `some'.
see also less.