Countable & uncountable nouns

In English, nouns are either countable or uncountable. Countable nouns name things we can count one by one — they have a singular and a plural form: a book / two books, an apple / five apples. We use a/an with singular countable nouns and many or (a) few with plural countable nouns. Uncountable nouns name things we cannot count individually — substances, materials, or abstract ideas such as water, bread, money, milk, and rice. They have no plural form and we never use a/an with them; instead we use much or (a) little. To ask about quantity, we say 'How many books?' for countable nouns and 'How much water?' for uncountable nouns. A common mistake is saying 'much books' or 'How much apples?' — this is wrong because books is countable. The difference between few/little (not enough) and a few/a little (some, enough) is also important: 'I have few friends' sounds negative, but 'I have a few friends' sounds positive. For example: 'There is a little milk in the fridge, but there are only a few biscuits left.'