Where do YOU use ''few and afew''?

Answer 1

"Few" by itself is an adjective, applicable only to plural nouns, and generally meaning a small fraction of some stated or implicit total, but not necessarily a small number if referred to a large class. In the phrase "a few", which should be written as two words, if not followed soon after with a noun, "few" is a noun meaning a small number. If "a few" is closely followed by a noun, the phrase is an adjective, also meaning a small number in the adjectival sense of number.

Example as an adjective: "Few modern Muslims and even fewer modern Christians actively seek martyrdom." There are news stories every week about Muslim suicide bombers, probably amounting to perhaps a few hundred per year. A few hundred would not normally be considered a small number, but it is a very small fraction of the many hundreds of millions of Muslims in the world.

Example as a simple noun (two successive speakers): "How many dollars do you have?" "Only a few now, but I expect to get many more later today."

Example as an adjective phrase: "There are only a few legally acceptable excuses for killing another person. The most common one in civil society is self-defense."

Answer 2

I use "few" and "a few" as quantifiers to indicate a small number of something. For example, "I have a few apples left" indicates that I have a small number of apples remaining, whereas "I have few friends" suggests that the number of friends I have is limited.