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Tommyensr Posted 21 years ago
Grammar
Many/a lot/a lot of
i had [many/a lot of] letters yesterday.
[*] 1.) many or a lot of?
we had [many/a lot of] rain yesterday.
[*] 2.) many or a lot of?
[*] 3.) may i use "a lot" instead of "a lot of" ?
please help and very thank you
[*] 1.) many or a lot of?
we had [many/a lot of] rain yesterday.
[*] 2.) many or a lot of?
[*] 3.) may i use "a lot" instead of "a lot of" ?
please help and very thank you
Top answer
Use "many" for count nouns, or things that can be counted, like this, There were many cars parked on the street yesterday. Liquid, like water and milk, cannot be counted as is (they need a container), so they are considered non-count nouns. *There were many milk in my glass.
- Use "many" for count nouns, or things that can be counted, like this, There were many cars parked on the street yesterday.
- Liquid, like water and milk, cannot be counted as is (they need a container), so they are considered non-count nouns.
- *There were many milk in my glass.
- (ungrammatical; 'milk' is a non-count noun) Use "a lot of" with nouns that express a great number, amount or quantity, like this, There were a lot of cars parked on the street yesterday.
- ('cars' is a count noun) There was a lot of milk in my glass yesterday.
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12 Answers
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Use "many" for count nouns, or things that can be counted, like this,
There were many cars parked on the street yesterday.
Liquid, like water and milk, cannot be counted as is (they need a container), so they are considered non-count nouns.
*There were many milk in my glass. (ungrammatical; 'milk' is a non-count noun)
Use "a lot of" with nouns that express
There were many cars parked on the street yesterday.
Liquid, like water and milk, cannot be counted as is (they need a container), so they are considered non-count nouns.
*There were many milk in my glass. (ungrammatical; 'milk' is a non-count noun)
Use "a lot of" with nouns that express
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Very thank you
and what's about
3.) may i use "a lot" instead of "a lot of" ?
and what's about
3.) may i use "a lot" instead of "a lot of" ?
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As Casi said, you need all three elements/words in your examples-- 'a lot of letters' and 'a lot of rain' must have their 'of's.
On the other hand, as a short answer with no object, you can only use 'a lot':
'Did you get any rain/letters?' 'Yes, a lot.'
On the other hand, as a short answer with no object, you can only use 'a lot':
'Did you get any rain/letters?' 'Yes, a lot.'
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Thank you very much teachers.0
You may also use "lots of".
I have lots of books.
He has lots of junk in his bag.
As stated by Casi, "a lot of" may be used with both countable and uncountable nouns. Use "much" exclusively for uncountable nouns.
By the way, you can't say "Very thank you".
I have lots of books.
He has lots of junk in his bag.
As stated by Casi, "a lot of" may be used with both countable and uncountable nouns. Use "much" exclusively for uncountable nouns.
By the way, you can't say "Very thank you".
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"You may also use "lots of".
I have lots of books."
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Of so, are "a lot of" and "lots of" completely interchangeable?
I have lots of books."
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Of so, are "a lot of" and "lots of" completely interchangeable?
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Grammatically, I believe they are completely interchangeable. I can think of one possible exception, though, and that's when ending a personal letter. I've never received nor seen a letter that ended with "a lot of love" before. But that's just me. I could be wrong.
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Of so, are "a lot of" and "lots of" completely interchangeable?
If you mean, do speakers use them synonymously, then yes, they are interchangeable. They mean the same thing. "a lot of" (as we already know) has an informal tone, and the plural phrase "lots of" has a decidedly more informal tone (American Heritage Dictionary; Oxford Dictionary of Current English).
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