A lot of and lots of ??

[k k colin love]

Hello there
I have a question about " a lot of " and " lots of " ???
I would like to know the usage of them ?
As far as I know , they have the same meaning but I don't know if when I should use " a lot of " or " lots of "???
Could anyone please explain to me?
Thank you in advance.
Best regards.

[Casiopea]

Everything you ever wanted to know about "a lot of" and "lots of":

http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/langu...es/002990.html

Let us know if you have further questions.

[k k colin love]

Thank you very much for your help Casiopea

I searched in it. It said " Much and many are generally used in questions and negatives , much with uncountable noun and many in countable noun "
and " A lot of is used in positive sentences,with countable noun and uncountable noun "

My questions are...

1.(related to much and many) Can I use much and many in positive sentences?
such as I have much water in the bottle or I have many dogs at my house.
Is it grammatically correct?

2. There are a lot of parks in London.
Can I say--> There are lots of parks in London. in stead. ???

Thank you in advance.
Regards.

[John mcneill]

Colin we use lot of and lots as quantifiers, they express a large quantity. We use a lot of and lots of with plural and uncountable nouns either is fine
example:
Plural: a lot of people / lots of people live in London
Uncountable: you'll have a lot of fun / lots of fun on holiday
hope this helps

[John mcneill]

Colin
In more formal English we can use many and much in positive statements eg:
Many tourists vist London There is much support for his idea

Yes you can say there are lots of parks in London
regards
j

[Casiopea]

Welcome, John.

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by k k colin love

2. There are a lot of parks in London.
Can I say--> There are lots of parks in London. in stead.???

Note that, while both "a lot of" and "lots of" are synonymous, for some speakers the latter expresses a number more than I'm willing to count. For example,

There are a lot of parks. <a great number>
There are lots of parks. <a number more than I'm willing to count>

As for "much water" and "many dogs", I agree with the author of the article: the head noun (e.g., water, dogs) holds the key. If the head noun is familiar or common, then speakers tend to use "a lot of/lots of". Cf. much support, much comment.

[k k colin love]

Thank you for your help , now I see.