“A few” emphasized that there are at least some and not none, while “few” emphasized that there are not many or only a small number.
She played a few video games when she was younger.
In this example, the subject of the sentence played some video games when she was younger. It emphasized the fact that she did, in fact, play some video games instead of none. If the sentence read, “She played few video games when she was younger,” this new sentence would be emphasizing the fact that she played only a small number of video games either by choice or because there were only a small number of video games available to her.
Few movie theaters still offer cheaper tickets on Tuesdays.
This sentence is stating that there are only a small number of movie theaters left that offer budget tickets on Tuesdays. If the sentence read, “A few movie theaters still offer cheaper tickets on Tuesdays,” this new sentence would imply that there are still some theaters that offer cheaper tickets on Tuesdays. The version of the sentence with “few” instead of “a few” has a negative connotation (it emphasizes the fact that there are not many theaters that offer cheaper tickets), while the version with “a few” has a positive connotation (it emphasized the fact that there are still some theaters that offer cheaper tickets).
To further demonstrate the difference between “a few” and “few,” compare the two sentences below.
In the 1980s, children played a few video games.
In the 1980s, children played few video games.
The first sentence implies children in the ‘80s were able to play a small number of video games. We can infer that most children played popular games like Pac-Man and Tetris in that decade.
The second sentence, on the other hand, implies that children did not play many video games in general in the 1980s, whether by choice or by availability.
Example sentences
A few
- I have a few T-shirts I can donate to charity.
- Tom took a few jelly beans from the jar and quickly ate them.
- Mom went on a few roller coasters with us before she went back to the hotel to rest.
- Ross has a few books on marketing that you could probably borrow.
- Despite her horrible childhood, she still has a few happy memories with her parents.
- I can still play a few piano pieces that I learned when I was in elementary school.
Few
- The boy had few friends and seemed to dislike socializing with others.
- Few men can lift that weight.
- Few countries allow such a crime to go unpunished.
- The warrior was said to have few flaws and was the most righteous man in the village.
- Few hospitals had enough resources to cure patients with that rare disease.
- I had few skills related to engineering, but I still got the job.
Practice questions
- I still have a few/few minutes left before my meeting, so let’s have a quick chat.
- A few/Few people would want to take that hiking trial because it is so difficult and exhausting.
- I still have a few/few bruises from playing paintball last week with my friends.
- A few/Few pencils involve such advanced mechanisms like the Kurotoga Dive, which has proprietary technology that makes sure your lead is always sharp and automatically extends the lead for you.
- There were a few/few places that sold the limited-edition backpack, so it was difficult to get my hands on one.
- A few/Few restaurants in town will charge an extra service fee for large parties, so be sure to check which restaurants they are before dining out.
- The manager had a few/few new ideas for the project that he excitedly shared with us during the team meeting.
- There were a few/few witnesses, so the police had difficulty investigating who the culprit was.
- Fortunately, there were a few/few board members who agreed with my point.
- I already had skydived a few/few times by the time I was 20.
Answers:
- a few
The speaker is expressing that he, she, or they still have some time to spare before his, her, or their meeting (instead of emphasizing the lack of time). - Few
This sentence is emphasizing the fact that only a small number of people would take the difficult and exhausting hiking trail (instead of emphasizing that some people would still want to take the trial despite how difficult it is). - a few
The subject of the sentence is conveying that he, she, or they do, in fact, still have some bruises from paintball last week (instead of stressing the fact that they only have a small number of bruises left). - Few
This sentence is expressing that not many pencils are equipped with advanced technology like the Kurotoga Dive mechanical pencil (instead of emphasizing that there exist some pencils that have advanced technology). - few
This sentence is stating that there was only a small number of stores that sold the limited-edition backpack (instead of emphasizing that there were still some places that sold it). - A few
This sentence is emphasizing the fact that there exist some restaurants that charge an extra fee for large parties (instead of stressing that only a small number of restaurants charge that extra fee). - a few
The sentence is emphasizing that the manager did instead have some new ideas that he enthusiastically shared in the meeting (instead of emphasizing that the manager only had an insufficient number of new ideas). - few
This sentence is stressing the fact that there were not enough witnesses, making it difficult for the police to investigate who the culprit was (instead of emphasizing that there were at least some witnesses to the case). - a few
In this sentence, the speaker feels relieved that there were at least some board members who agreed with his, her, or their point (instead of emphasizing that only a small number of board members agreed). - a few
This sentence emphasizes the fact that the speaker already skydived multiple times by the young age of 20 (instead of emphasizing that he, she, or they only skydived a small number of times). In many countries, an individual has to be at least 18 years old to be able to skydive, so the speaker of this sentence has assumably skydived many more times than other people his, her, or their age.
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