Q: What is the difference between “few” and “a few”?

Answer:

 ‘A few’ means ‘some’, whereas ‘few’ means ‘not a lot of’. So, ‘A few reports have been published’ means that ‘Some reports have been published’, whereas ‘Few reports have been published’ means that ‘Not many reports have been published’. As you can see, ‘few’ usually has a negative connotation, while 'a few' usually has a positive connotation.