a lot/lots

[hlbert03]

Hello guys,

Please help me to know what's the difference of these two phrases:

1. There is a lot ....

2. There are lots ......

Please explain. Thanks.

[Shad]

i think
1. There is a lot of trouble/ pain/ effort/ money..(Non-countable)
2. There are lots of pencils/ pens etc. (Countable)

[RobbieCook]

"There is a lot" would be used for a single type of something, for example:

"There is a lot of oil on my jumper."

"There are" would be used when there is a large amount of more than one type of something. For example:

"There are a lot of boys and girls at my school."

[Humble]

Hi hlbert,
If I were asked to compare
a)There are a lot of nice people in this forum.
and
b) There are lots of nice people in this forum.,
I'd say a) is more formal - in fact just neutral and b) is colloquial, informal.
If I am wrong, let native speakers correct me, I'd be grateful.
Cheers

[Harry Smith]

There is no difference between " a lot of" and "lots of"'. In your sentences the difference is between "is" & "are".

[Jaguar]

Some people actually think that 'a lot' is one word

Alot????

Jag

[hlbert03]

There is no difference between " a lot of" and "lots of"'. In your sentences the difference is between "is" & "are".

Does this mean that I can always interchange the two? If I use "is", does this pertain to a non countable things whereas using "are" is for countable?

Please advise. Thanks.

[Harry Smith]

I think yes you can.

[wsemajb]

If you use it very literally you can spot the difference.

"I have a (one) lot of cars."

You can imagine one parking lot with either a hundred, or a thousand, automobiles.

"I have twelve lots of cars."

There may be more, or less, total cars than in the first sentence, but we know that by saying lots, there are many groups of things.

That's the subtle difference between them when the nouns lot and lots are used in the sense of many, or a great deal of.

[hlbert03]

Thanks.


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