- a large number or amount
- ‘How many do you need?’ ‘A lot.’
- Have some more cake. There's lots left.
- He has invited nearly a hundred people but a lot aren't able to come.
- a lot to do I have a lot to do today.
- She still has an awful lot (= a very large amount) to learn.
Grammar Point much / a lot of / lots ofmuch / a lot of / lots of- Much is used only with uncountable nouns. It is used mainly in questions and negative sentences:
- Do you have much free time?
- How much experience have you had?
- I don’t have much free time.
- In statements a lot of or lots of (informal) is much more common:
- How much (money) does she earn?
- She earns a lot of money.
- A lot of/lots of is still felt to be informal, especially in British English, so in formal writing it is better to use much, a great deal of or a large amount of.
- Very much and a lot can be used as adverbs:
- I miss my family very much.
- I miss very much my family.
- I miss my family a lot.
- Thanks a lot.
- I didn’t enjoy the film (very) much.
Word OriginOld English hlot (noun), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch lot, German Los. The original meaning was ‘by lot’ and (by extension) the sense ‘a portion assigned to someone’; this gave rise to the other noun senses. The pronoun and adverb uses date from the early 19th cent.
Check pronunciation:
lot