COUNTABLE / UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

Nouns can be countable (we can say: one, two, three) or uncountable (they have no plural):

COUNTABLE: table (1 table, 2 tables), boy (1 boy, 2 boys), house (1 house, 2 houses), phone (1 phone, 2 phones)
UNCOUNTABLE: milk (two milks), money (two moneys), spaghetti, rice, air, water, wine, beer, food, piece, freedom, love

Sometimes a word can be countable or uncountable:
- I drink beer (uncountable)
- Can I have two beers, please? (= two glasses of beer)
But usually we need another word to make it countable:
- I like rice
- There are ten grains of rice in the plate (we count the grains, not the rice)
- I can drink 20 glasses of water or two litres of water

SOME/ANY

We can consider these the plural of the indefinite article, so we have:
UNDEFINITE ARTICLE
singular A/AN I have a book
plural SOME/ANY I have some books  (we can also say: "I have books", but it is more usual to say "some")

UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
They have no plural, so we will talk about the singular only.
Remember that words that have no plural can't use the article A/AN:
- I have a book (1 book, 2 books)
- I have water (1 water, 2 waters)
These nouns can't use A/AN but they can use SOME/ANY (and they usually use it):
- I have some water
So the rule is:
Definite article We use it with singular nouns, plural nouns, countable nouns and uncountable nouns
Indefinite article
Countable nouns: singular (A/AN), plural (nothing or SOME)
Uncountable nouns: singular (SOME)   (they have no plural)

With negatives and interrogatives we use ANY:
- I have some water
- I don't have any water
- Do you have any water?

We can only use SOME/ANY when the number or amount is small and indefinite:
- I have some books at home (maybe 10 or 30)
- In the National Library there are books (maybe 10,000): some = a few
- You've got beautiful eyes (not: "some beautiful eyes" because we know you have two eyes, not "a few eyes")

MUCH/MANY, A LOT OF

COUNTABLE NOUNS (C) MANY
UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS (U) MUCH
COUNTABLE / UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS A LOT OF
C- I have many books
U- I don't have much money
C/U- I have a lot of books. I don't have a lot of money

MUCH/MANY negative and interrogative sentences
A LOT OF affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences
+ I have a lot of books. I have a lot of money
- I don't have many books. I don't have a lot of books
- I don't have much money. I don't have a lot of money
? Do you have many books? Do you have a lot of books?
? Do you have much money? Do you have a lot of money
You can also use MANY in affirmatives (I have many friends) but not usually.
CONCLUSION: You can always use A LOT OF (but be careful if you want to use MUCH or MANY)

A FEW / A LITTLE
COUNTABLE NOUNS (C) A FEW
UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS (U) A LITTLE
C- I have a few books
U- I have a little money