I have been talking about diet this week. Then a student sent me few jokes. Or would that be a few jokes?

There is a difference between few and a few.

Without a, few usually have rather negative meaning. It may ‘suggest not as many as one would like’, ‘not as many as expected’, and similar ideas.

Few people can speak a foreign language perfectly.

A few is more positive: its meaning is generally closer to some. It may suggest ideas like ‘better than nothing’ or ‘more than expected’.

You don’t need to go shopping. We’ve got a few potatoes and some steak.

Compare:

His ideas are difficult, and few people understand them.

His ideas are difficult, but a few people understand them.

So, going back to the question put at the beginning of this post, what my diligent student did was: he’s sent me a few jokes about diet! 😉 Thanks Afonso!