Difference Between Few and A Few
Few and A few are two words causing confusion as words denoting the same direction. They are actually two words that convey different meanings. The word ‘A few’ is used to express the number as in the sentence ‘I took a “few mangoes to my family”. In this sentence the word ‘few’ suggest ‘ number’ of mangoes. Now use the word ‘some’ suggests the number of objects or people.
On the other hand the word ‘few’ suggest the void of an object or people as in the sentence ‘there are few books on the shelf’. In this sentence using the word ‘few’ suggest that there is no book at all in the shelf! This is the main difference between the two uses of words, i.e., few and a few.
A few is sometimes used to suggest a small number of objects or people as in the sentence “only a few remained after the meeting was on ‘the use of the word’ some ‘suggests that few people stayed after the meeting through.
The use of the word ‘a few’ suggests the idea of ’better than nothing’ as in the sentence ‘there are a few cakes in the box’ Here the idea of ’more than expected is estimated by using the word ‘a few’. On the other hand the word ‘few’ indicates the direction of ‘No’ as in the sentence ‘the concept was difficult to understand for little understood when explained.’ You will receive the idea that ‘no one has understood the concept when it was said ‘.
The same sentence gives an entirely different meaning when the word ‘a few’ is used in place of ‘few’. You get the sense that few people understood the concept