difference between "quite a few" and "many"

[jose rocha]

What is the difference between quite a few and many?
E.g - Quite a few students like to play but may students are interested in reading.

[rj1948]

A few=a small number of ...
Many=a large number of ...

[Craig Wilson]

How interesting that this should come up. I stumbled onto this very curiosity not long ago.

As I understand it, the phrase "quite a few" is virtually synonymous with "many". The confusion sets in when you forget the connecting "a", which leaves you with "quite few", which indeed has the opposite connotation.

In a similar vein, take a look at the terms "far from" and "close to". Most of the time, they are used as opposites, but in at least one context, they can be interchangeable. See what happens when you add the word "this" to the front of both...!