Determiners

a few trees
few trees
several trees
a couple of trees
none of the trees

The following quantifiers will work with non-count nouns:
not much dancing
a little dancing
little dancing
a bit of dancing
a good deal of dancing
a great deal of dancing
no dancing

The following quantifiers will work with both count and non-count nouns:
all of the trees/dancing
some trees/dancing
most of the trees/dancing
enough trees/dancing
a lot of trees/dancing
lots of trees/dancing
plenty of trees/dancing
a lack of trees/dancing

In formal academic writing, it is usually better to use many and much rather than phrases such as a lot of, lots of and plenty of.

There is an important difference between "a little" and "little" (used with non-count words) and between "a few" and "few" (used with count words). If I say that Tashonda has a little experience in management that means that although Tashonda is no great expert she does have some experience and that experience might well be enough for our purposes. If I say that Tashonda has little experience in management that means that she doesn't have enough experience. If I say that Charlie owns a few books on Latin American literature that means that he has some some books — not a lot of books, but probably enough for our purposes. If I say that Charlie owns few books on Latin American literature, that means he doesn't have enough for our purposes and we'd better go to the library.

Unless it is combined with of, the quantifier "much" is reserved for questions and negative statements:

• Much of the snow has already melted.
• How much snow fell yesterday?
• Not much.

Note that the quantifier "most of the" must include the definite article the when it modifies a specific noun, whether it's a count or a non-count noun: "most of the instructors at this college have a doctorate"; "most of the water has evaporated." With a general plural noun, however (when you are not referring to a specific entity), the "of the" is dropped:

• Most colleges have their own admissions policy.
• Most students apply to several colleges.

An indefinite article is sometimes used in conjunction with the quantifier many, thus joining a plural quantifier with a singular noun (which then takes a singular verb):

• Many a young man has fallen in love with her golden hair.
• Many an apple has fallen by October.

	Countable Nouns	Uncountable Nouns	-
much		x	I don't have much money.
many	x	-	I don't have many apples.
few*	x	-	We know few people in the area. I would like to get to know more.
a few**	x	-	We know a few people in the area. I know enough people to keep me happy.
little*	-	x	I know little English. I am going to have a problem getting around England.
a little**	-	x	I know a little English, at least enough to get England.
enough	x	x	I have enough money.
plenty	x	x	I have plenty of money.

** a few/a little - means that there are not a lot of something, but there is enough.

• There are a few apples. There are enough apples.
• There are a people at the meeting. There are enough people to hold a meeting. There are not a lot people, at the meeting, but there are enough
• I know a little English. He know enough English to manage.
• I have a little money.

*few/little - means that is not enough of something.

• There are few apples. There are not enough apples.
• There are few people. There are not enough people at the meeting. We can't hold a meeting, because there are not enough people.
• There is little money. We can't buy a lot of expensive food.
• If things for the holiday. I don't have enough money, then we will stay home and have a great time.
• They know little English. They can't get around very well. They don't know enough English to manage.