only a few works vs only few work

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in different contexts. 'Only a few works' is used when referring to a small number of works, while 'only few work' is used when indicating a small quantity of work. The choice between the two depends on whether you are talking about works in general or a specific type of work.

Last updated: March 27, 2024 • 3565 views

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

"only a few works"

This phrase is used when referring to a small number of works. 'Works' is a plural noun, and 'a few' is used to indicate a small quantity.

Examples:

Only a few works by the artist are on display at the museum.
I have read only a few works of classical literature.

Show examples from the web [+]

There are in fact only a few works involved here, and the auctioneers in France have worked out for us that all of 120 works are sold for more than ECU 250000 each year.
There are only a few things that work for stress.
I wish that those journalists - and luckily only a few of them work this way - could spend a week with some of us to see exactly what we do.
NARRATOR: The fourth week rolled by and she had completed only a few days of work.
whereas, on average, sealers receive less than 5% of their income from sealing, which provides only a few days' work each year,
whereas, on average, sealers receive less than 5 % of their income from sealing, which provides only a few days' work each year,
Only a few poor, needy Christian families agreed to work for them.
Friends and family mostly, a few work-related calls.
I think he's having a few work issues.
Ryan, these are a few work friends here.
It's hard to believe we work only a few blocks from here.
You know, there are only a few windows in history where the opportunity exists to reinvent part of how our socioeconomic system works.
Today only a few Member States have adopted a fully integrated life-cycle-based approach to work.
These are only a few initiatives; there are still many more around which Europe could work.
The mechanism by which pregabalin, marketed under the brand name Lyrica, works was discovered only a few years ago.
As the British will work on the bridge only a few will be available for railway work.
We've discovered things like, for example, RNA interference only a few years ago, and this is a really fundamental component of how cells work.
So last fall when we published the results of that work in Science, we all became overconfident and were sure we were only a few weeks away from being able to now boot up a chromosome out of yeast.
This important point is all too often lost in obscurity and the research work then becomes independent of outside control, serving to benefit only a few specialists and even carrying the risk of becoming antidemocratic and contributing to its own alienation.
Mr Van Rompuy was not involved in this work, because he was nominated only a few weeks ago, so he could not discuss this matter at all today.

Alternatives:

only a few pieces
only a few books
only a few paintings
only a few songs
only a few movies

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

"only few work"

This phrase is used when indicating a small quantity of work. 'Work' is a singular noun, and 'only few' is used to suggest scarcity or insufficiency.

Examples:

Only few work opportunities were available in the small town.
She completed the project with only few work hours left.

Show examples from the web [+]

There are in fact only a few works involved here, and the auctioneers in France have worked out for us that all of 120 works are sold for more than ECU 250000 each year.
There are only a few things that work for stress.
I wish that those journalists - and luckily only a few of them work this way - could spend a week with some of us to see exactly what we do.
NARRATOR: The fourth week rolled by and she had completed only a few days of work.
whereas, on average, sealers receive less than 5% of their income from sealing, which provides only a few days' work each year,
whereas, on average, sealers receive less than 5 % of their income from sealing, which provides only a few days' work each year,
Friends and family mostly, a few work-related calls.
I think he's having a few work issues.
Ryan, these are a few work friends here.
Because there are only few left.
The ECB monthly bulletin is published only few days later, with more background analysis.
He crashed sixty times but only few injuries.
It is only few days old.
However, only few countries have obligatory in-service training for school leaders.
The CI has only few such furnaces which limit its possibilities to switch production according to actual market trends.
Also, only few Union producers would be manufacturing (fine) bone china.
In general only few pigs in a herd give rise to these false/positive reactions.
R& D in statistics has an important European dimension, because statistical production is international by nature as only few Member States could afford it on their own.
There are only few manufacturers of mercury barometers in the EU, mainly SMEs located in the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands.
For these categories of persons, only few documents can be requested in order to issue the visa.

Alternatives:

only a little work
only a small amount of work
only a limited amount of work
only a small quantity of work
only a modest amount of work

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only a few works vs only few work

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