few vs a few
Definitions
adjective
- a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by `a'; a small but indefinite number
noun
- a small elite group
Examples
Mix together with as few stirs as possible - mixing too much will make the muffins too dense and heavy.
By the time harmony was a few centuries old, it began to shiver and shake from them.
It also seems to carry the well-tempered glow of late Woody Allen with a well-satisfied view of late life and with few illusions.
Definitions
adjective
- more than one but indefinitely small in number
Examples
By the time harmony was a few centuries old, it began to shiver and shake from them.
This is not good for anybody, except for a few curmudgeons and people who are embittered by nothing more than their own embitteredness.
Some of my remarks here are directed toward conventional scientists, who generally refrain from commenting critically on the wild ideas of a few of their colleagues because it is bad manners.