Why does ‘few’ sometimes mean a lot “There’s quite a few ducks in the pond.” and sometimes a little “There’s only a few ducks in the pond.”?

Question

Why does ‘few’ sometimes mean a lot “There’s quite a few ducks in the pond.” and sometimes a little “There’s only a few ducks in the pond.”?

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Answer 1

Because it’s not just “few”‘ It’s a phrase – “quite a few”. Phrases often times have a different meaning than the words it is made out of. “Quite a something” is used to amplify or emphasize a certain quality. “That’s quite a car” = that seems like a good car.

Also, “few” is a bit tricky in English because there’s even a subtle difference between “few” and “a few”.

“There are a few ducks in that pond” – You’re emphasizing that there are some ducks.

“There are few ducks in that pond” – You’re emphasizing that there are not many ducks.

“There’s quite a few ducks in the pond” – a fairly large number of ducks.