"lots of" vs. "a lot of"

English translation: "lots of" is more informal

20:25 Nov 27, 2004

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Linguistics

English term or phrase: "lots of" vs. "a lot of"

Is "lots of" equal to "a lot of"? For example, "lots of friends" and "a lot of friends". What is the difference between these two and is one more formal than the other?

Thank you very much!

Bo Smith

Selected answer:"lots of" is more informal

Explanation:
According to the MacMillan Good English Handbook:

_Lots of_ ("lots of money") is conversational, so there's a case of avoiding it in serious writing. But this cannot reasonably apply to _a lot_ or _a lot of_: "He paid a lot for it"; "a lot of money".

Selected response from:

Attila Piróth
France
Local time: 21:31

Grading comment

Thank you everybody! Your answers and suggestions are all helpful. It is hard for me to pick one. Ian is right about both being informal. Kim provided valuable English lesson. I agree with Attila and some friends' comments about "lots of" being more informal than "a lot of".
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +6

Here's a good answer

Kim Metzger

4 +5

no difference

IanW (X)

5 +3

"lots of" is more informal

Attila Piróth

3 +3

See comment below... [Not for grading!]

Tony M

Hornet's nest (not for grading)

zaphod

3 +1

a special case

Alaa Zeineldine

Discussion entries: 5

Answers

0 min confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

no difference

Explanation:
As far as I am concerned, there is no difference - I wouldn't use either in a formal context.

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Note added at 3 mins (2004-11-27 20:29:27 GMT)
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For example, you could say \"my sister has lots of friends\" or \"my sister has a lot of friends\" and there is no difference in register or meaning. But you wouldn\'t say, in a formal document, \"the deceased had lots of dealings with our institution\", but rather \"many dealings\", \"numerous dealings\" or something along those lines.

IanW (X)
Local time: 21:31
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 20

2 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +6

Here's a good answer

Explanation:
a lot of , lots of ?

Question : When do I use "a lot of ..." and "lots of ..."? Are there any rules in usage?

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Casiopea
( English teacher ) a lot of and lots of , which carry the same basic meaning: a great deal of, are colloquial (i.e., informal) but nonetheless Standard and acceptable. lots of is considered more informal than lots of.

There's no rule on usage: Both a lot of and lots of are used with plural count nouns and non-count nouns, like this,

Plural Count Noun
There are a lot of books in your bag. (OK)
There are lots of books in you bag. (OK)

Non-Count Noun
There is a lot of milk left in your glass. (OK)
There is lots of milk left in your glass. (OK)

In terms of grammar, the verb agrees in number with the noun: if the noun is plural then the verb is plural,

A lot of books were left on the table.
Lots of books were left on the table.

if the noun is not plural, then the verb is not plural,

A lot of milk was left on the table.
Lots of milk was left on the table.

In academic writing, the more formal 'a great deal of' or 'many', with plural count nouns, and 'a great deal of' or 'much', with non-count nouns are used:

Plural Count Noun
There are a great deal of books in your bag.
A great deal of books are in your bag.

Non-Count Noun
There is a great deal of milk left in your glass.
A great deal of milk is left in your glass.

In terms of meaning, speakers tend not to make a distinction between a lot of and lots of; both refer to a great quantity. But, for some speakers, lots of tends to mean, more than a lot of (i.e., a greater quantity).

http://www.englishdaily626.com/qna.php?013

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Note added at 4 mins (2004-11-27 20:30:25 GMT)
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Errata: Here the answerer says: \"lots of is considered more informal than lots of.\" I think she meant to say \"lots of\" is considered more informal than \"a lot of.\"

Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 13:31
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 187

4 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

"lots of" is more informal

Attila Piróth
France
Local time: 21:31
Native speaker of:

Hungarian
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

lots of vs a lot of See comment below... [Not for grading!]

Explanation:
Well, for myself I tend to use 'a lot of...' when referring to all or part of a singular noun [a lot of milk...], and 'lots of...' when it is synonymous with 'numerous'; but naturally, this is only my own personal 'rule-of-thumb' guide.

I was most interested in the explanaton that Kim has dug out for us, and which seems generally excellent; however, am I alone in feeling that the formal Plural Count Noun example is a bit odd, if not actually wrong?

"Plural Count Noun
There are a great deal of books in your bag.
A great deal of books are in your bag."

I would honestly never have thought of using 'a great deal of...' in this way. I can't even begin to explain in formal terms why nt, it just 'feels' wrong. All I can say is that I always associate 'a great deal of...' with the idea of 'much' (a large quantity of something): "a great deal of time and money has been wasted on this project"

But I don't think you can say "A great deal of people these days have cars"? It seems to me that where the underlying meaning is 'numerous, a large number of...', then 'a great many...' needs to be used.

So I would say: 'There are a great many books in your bag'

Sorry, Asker, I know this is rather getting away from your original point, forgive me!

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Note added at 3 hrs 18 mins (2004-11-27 23:43:55 GMT)
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Alaa has come up with an interesting point there! I\'ll try and explain my instinctive feelings:
I feel that \'a lot of...\' works well when the emphasis is on the size of a group of... forming a significant subset of the overall population (or quantity, etc.) of...
Whereas \'lots of...\' maybe works best where the emphasis is on how many individual members (items, etc.) make up that sub-group.

Lots of people [= quite a large group] go to work by car, but a lot of them [= many individuals] park out of town and catch the bus in.

Lots of [= much, a great deal of] exercise is good for you.

A lot [a great many, \'numerous\'] of the exercises suggested by my trainer are too hard for me.

...and so on

Tony M
France
Local time: 21:31
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 156

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

a special case

Explanation:
I am sure you are asking about the common usage where the two expressions refer to a large quantity; but there is a context where the expressions would not be equivalent. For example "a lot of pencils" could be synonymous with "lots of pencils", but it could also mean a shipment or a consignment of pencils. Also "a lot land" can mean a lot of open space, but can also be a particular area of land.

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Note added at 2 hrs 59 mins (2004-11-27 23:25:34 GMT)
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This is not for grading.

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Note added at 3 hrs 1 min (2004-11-27 23:27:09 GMT)
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correction: \"a lot of land\"

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Note added at 12 hrs 26 mins (2004-11-28 08:52:14 GMT)
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Following up on Rusty\'s thread:

Considering that people (especially in the US) also say \"lots and lots\" but not \"a lot and a lot\", and after all, lots is the plural of lot; I am coming away from this with a feeling (instinctive as Rusty would put it) that lots has a more \"plentiful\" ring to it than \"a lot\". Think of the following conversation based on Ian\'s example:

Your sister seems to have a lot of friends.
Oh yeah, lots!

There might be a slight hint here that \"she has even more friends than what you think\".

Alaa Zeineldine
Egypt
Local time: 21:31
Native speaker of:

Arabic,

English
PRO pts in category: 11

21 hrs confidence:

Hornet's nest (not for grading)

Explanation:
Essentially "lots of" would refer to many sources and "a lot of" would refer to a single unit regardless of size. The latter would generally be grammatically incorrect in most circumstances unless one had not moved from one's domicile and only knew the same people since birth.

Both, however, are common parlance, and incorrect.

The differnce? As bastardized as English has become? None in the vernacular. Both however should be replaced with "many".

Any writing teacher worth his or her salt would grade down for use of either, unless in dialogue.

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Note added at 2004-11-28 18:06:14 (GMT)
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There are a lot of books in your bag. (OK) : This is incorrect in every sense. There IS a lot of books in your bags, or there are LOTS of books in your bag, each lot being a unit of books.

zaphod
Local time: 21:31
Native speaker of:

English,

French
PRO pts in category: 8

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