Question

difference between the use of a few ,the few and few determiners

Answer 1

Little and a little follow the same pattern as few vs. a few. The only difference is that we use few and a few with countable nouns in the plural form, and we use little and a little with uncountable nouns: ... By the way, you should use little and a little with “water” because it's an uncountable noun.

Answer 2

So the basic difference isbetween positive and negative.Few, when used without a preceding 'a', means "very few" or "none at all". On the other hand, afew is used to indicate "not a large number". The difference is subtle, yet there are instances where the two can mean completely opposite things