Answer: a few minutes lat
Explanation: The completion of the sentence "John told me he would be..." with either "a few" or "a few minutes" would convey similar meanings but with slight nuances:
John told me he would be a few minutes late.
This sentence is more specific and precise. It indicates that John expects to arrive late, but only by a short amount of time, specifically minutes.
John told me he would be a few late.
This sentence is grammatically incomplete and doesn't convey a clear meaning. "A few" needs to be followed by a noun or noun phrase to make sense. In this case, "a few" is not followed by a noun or noun phrase.
