Alot or A Lot Grammar

Alot or a lot grammar explanations may be difficult to come by. This is because alot is not actually a word!

But for some reason learners of English have come to believe that it can be used. Let's though take a look at alot vs a lot.

A Lot

With this word combination you have:

an article (a)
and a noun (lot)

Lot in this context is defined as 'large in amount'. It can be used in two main ways.

A large amount or number of people or things

Examples:

I ate a lot yesterday
A lot of people came to my birthday party
I think we wasted a lot of time thinking about it

Very often or very much

Examples:

She swears a lot
She visited my house a lot last week
I've got a lot more revising to do

Alot

As noted above, this word does not actually exist so it is not possible to give any examples or explain whether to use alot or alot!

Summary of Alot or A Lot Grammar

So to summarise, when thinking about alot or a lot grammar, you should always use the words a lot.

This is because alot does not exist as a word.

It's not clear why these words may be confused. It's possible that people are thinking of the word allot. That word means "to give something, especially a share of something available, for a particular purpose".

The Ministry of Defence was allotted 20% of the budget this year
I've been allotted an hour to finish this

More Confusing Words:

Every Day or Everyday? How to Choose
In choosing between every day or everyday you need to understand that one is a determiner plus noun while the other is an adjective.
Drank or Drunk: Advice on which to choose
Confused about whether to use drank or drunk? Drunk is actually the past participle used with the verb 'have'. So 'I have drunk a lot tonight'. 'Drank' is simply the past simple: 'I drank a lot last night'.
Be / Get Used to: Learn the Differences
Be / get used to is used to talk about something that one is familiar with or accustomed to. There are slight difference between 'be' and 'get'.