What are the differences between Allot – A lot – Alot – Lots?
Okay, this may look confusing but look at the difference in definitions!
Alot
is a misspelling of a lot and should be avoided at all costs!
A lot
When there is a large amount of something.
- A leopard has a lot of spots.
- A lot of people like to listen to music.
A lot is used to tell how many or how much. It is used as an adverb or a quantifier. For example, you can say that you love eating pizza a lot, or you can say that there are a lot of pencils on the table. Either way, you are saying that there is a large number or large amount of something.
Notice that, if you use it to describe the number of something (as a quantifier), you need to use “of” to introduce the items.
- Dan likes to watch TV shows a lot.
- Sally uses a lot of her time at work trying to read self help books.
Allot
to allocate, give or apportion something to someone or something.
- I allot five hours a day to learning English.
- I allotted 500 pounds towards my new games console.
Lots
The same meaning as a lot, just a bit less formal and generally used in speech rather than writing.
- A leopard has lots of spots.
- Lots of people like to listen to music.
Lot
If you are using lot as a noun, the meaning is different. Usually it describes a group of something that often is for sale, such as seven lots of yogurt. This means that there are groups of yogurt (probably in bottles) that are being sold together.
As a noun, lot can also refer to things that people draw to decide on things. For example, you can draw lots to see who will go first, second, third, and so on. The third most common usage of lot is as a patch or piece of land.
For example, a parking lot is a term used in the United States that talks about the large places where you can park your car. You can also buy a lot of land, for example.
- Since we cannot decide who should go first, we should draw lots from this hat to decide for us.
- Pat is trying to sell his land all together, but he is willing to separate them into lots if you really just want a little piece.
- At the auction, several lots brought in high prices while other lots were basically given away.
Hope that helps!
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