Countable and uncountable nouns / Quantifiers.

Countable / Uncountable nouns

• Countable nouns: things you can count. They can be singular or plural: one orange, three oranges…
• Uncountable nouns: things you can't count. Uncountable nouns can't be plural: butter, sugar…
• Many nouns are sometimes countable and sometimes uncountable. For example: a cake, some cake, a piece of cake or some cake.

Quantifiers

• Quantifiers for countable nouns: Many / (a) few.
• Quantifiers for uncountable nouns: Much, less, (a) little.
• Quantifiers for both countable and uncountable nouns: A lot of, some, plenty.

Little / Few

• Little and few imply negative ideas.
• Little means not much and it is used with uncountable nouns.
• Few means not many and it is used with countable nouns.
  • There is little time, hurry up!
  • They are quite poor, they have got little money.
  • There are few people in the street because everybody is watching the football match.

A little / A few

• A little and a few are more positive ideas.
• A little means some and it is used with uncountable nouns.
• A few also means some and it is used with countable nouns.
  • Don't worry, we have a little time. (This means they have some time.)
  • I have got a few friends in Seville to visit next weekend. (This means I have some friends.)