Confusing Words: Alot and A lot (combination of an article and a noun)
Meaning: (a large number or amount; a great deal.)
Alot vs A Lot Clarification: ‘Alot’ is said to be an incorrect spellings of ‘a lot’.
Alot vs A lot – What is the Difference, Definition & Meaning?
In most of the cases, people get confused of homonyms that sound same but have different meanings. Today, we are going to face the same confusion.
If you observe a lot (with a space between a and lot), you will come to know that this is not a single word. Actually, ‘a lot’ is a phrase and ‘alot’ is a word. The word ‘alot’ (with no space in between a and lot) is not true. You can see in dictionaries that the word ‘alot’ does not exist. The right word is ‘a lot’.
I ate Alot (False)
I ate A lot (True)
You can see the usage of this word ‘alot’, especially, in messages. It is a common mistake that mostly people are used to do.
Continue reading the post for more clarification. This confusion has to be solved because in official writing, you cannot repeat this mistake.
Meanings and Examples of A lot/Alot
So, we are cleared that a lot is the word that is correct. The dictionary supports ‘a lot’ not ‘alot’. Let us discuss the meaning of the correct word ‘a lot’.
A Lot
A lot is the combination of an article ‘a’ and a noun ‘lot’. This combination of an article and a noun makes it a phrase. The noun ‘lot’ means a great amount or plenty. A lot is also used as an adverb which means to a great degree or extent.
- I have a lot of handmade jewellery which are actually made by me. (True)
- I have alot of handmade jewellery which are actually made by me. (False)
- I am suffering from food poison just because I ate a lot last night. (True)
- I am suffering from food poison just because I ate alot last night. (False)
- I do not have a lot of time to sleep. (True)
- I do not have alot of time to sleep. (False)
We have discussed the differences between a lot and alot which is quite clear now. In terms of their pronunciation, I have one more word, sounds like alot and a lot, that is often a source of confusion. The word is ‘allot’ which means ‘to assign or to distribute something to someone’. For instance, I will allot the projects to the students for a presentation’.
Allot has nothing to do with a lot. Though the pronunciation is similar to a lot but this is an unrelated word.
Check Out: The Difference Between Altogether and All Together.
What Did You Learn?
A lot and alot are homonyms that have same pronunciation. A lot is a phrase which is the dictionary word. ‘Alot’ is said to be an incorrect spellings of ‘a lot’. So, it is necessary for everyone not to use alot in official writings because it is considered to be a wrong term.
A lot defines a great amount or a large quantity of something.