"Few" and "a few" 可以用来描述少数的，而 "a very few" 可以用来描述很少的。
"Few" 是形容词，意思是"很少的"，"a few" 是冠词加形容词，意思是 "一些"。
例如：
Few people came to the party. (很少的人参加了聚会。)
A few people came to the party. (一些人参加了聚会。)
A very few people came to the party. (很少的人参加了聚会。)
来源： "Few" 源于古英语 "feawe"， "a few" 源于中古英语 "feawe" 和 "a"。