Why is a lot not one word

Last Update: Jan 03, 2023

This is a question our experts keep getting from time to time. Now, we have got the complete detailed explanation and answer for everyone, who is interested!

Asked by: Doyle Steuber PhD

Score: 4.8/5
(48 votes)

Alot is a common misspelling of a lot. A lot should always be spelled as two words. The meaning of a lot depends on the context. Usually, it means “many” or “to a great extent.” Let’s look at some examples.

Why is alot Not one word?

While it may be common to see the word “alot” throughout Internet commenting or text messaging, the word is never seen in print, and the reason is simple: it isn’t an actual word. That’s right.

Why is alot incorrect?

For example, a lot means a large quantity of something, like room or space. You know alot is incorrect because there’s no room between the “a” and the “l.” On the other hand, you know that a lot is correct because there is a lot of space between the”a” and the “l.” “Alot” is a common misspelling of the phrase “a lot.”

Where did alot come from?

The word was adopted from Germanic into the Romanic languages (compare lottery, lotto). Meaning «choice resulting from the casting of lots» first attested c. 1200.

Is alot a word in Scrabble?

No, alot is not in the scrabble dictionary.

35 related questions found

No, they aren’t doing the same thing.

It’s because these a- words are mostly ancient prepositional phrases in origin that eventually got squished together — but into adverbs, not quantifiers or adjectives. Consider aback, abroad, above, afoot, across, afar, ahead, ajar, akin, alike, aloud, amid, apart, atop, away.

That a- portion was an unstressed version of the word on way back in Old English, according to Oxford Dictionaries Online. As a prefix it most often means on or to something, or in that manner.

So the process that created all these fused prepositional phrases turned to adverbs is not one that would give rise to such things as *alot, *alittle, *abit, *abig, *afat, *acool, *abad, *anold.

Articles and prepositions aren’t the same thing, so to‑day you aren’t going to get an adjective by fusing an article to an adjective.
For that we have a newt, an orange, an apron, a nickname. 

More seriously, this very thing did once happen aforetimes to give us another. Then again, whether other counts as an adjective is dubious in modern analysis.
In any event, it is not a productive process now‑a‑days.

Is a lot singular or plural? The answer is “It can be either.” A lot can modify a noun, giving an indefinite idea of quantity. But on its own it can also be an indefinite pronoun.

(As a quick aside, is the word people singular or plural? Give up? It’s always plural.)

Both of the following are correct: There is a lot of bread and
There are a lot of loaves.

For example, you can say A lot of flour is required for this recipe or A lot is required for this recipe. Here, a lot takes a singular verb (is).

Why? Because flour is a “noncount noun” and functions as singular.

But you can also say A lot of people like pizza or A lot like pizza. Here, a lot takes a plural verb (like).

Why? Because people is a “count noun”—you could arrive at an exact number (if you felt like spending your time that way).

A noun doesn’t have to end in -s to be plural: people, men, women, feet…

We’ll get some answers to the question Is a lot singular or plural? in the example sentences below.

Is A Lot Singular or Plural? That Depends

Don’t let the a in a lot fool you. While the indefinite article a is the go-to marker for singular in English (a cat, a policy, a(n) eggplant), it just doesn’t play that role in a lot, which acts as a unit.

In fact, you could use much in place of a lot for cases where the singular form is needed, and many in place of a lot in cases where the plural is needed:

Does anyone actually say Much is required for this recipe when talking about flour? Probably not. It’s just to illustrate the point.

We use many above because people is plural. (The same goes for children, feet, fish, and other plural nouns that don’t end in s.)

Notes

Several points bear mentioning when we talk about whether a lot is singular or plural:

• First, a lot is two words. Alot doesn’t exist. (But  allot is a word.)
• Second, the word a lot, when it means “a piece of land” or “the location of a movie studio,” is singular. Always. For example, There’s a lot at the end of the street that my aunt wants to buy.
• Third, people are more likely to take note (and/or care) if your usage is correct in writing. Speech is another story.

RedLine’s company philosophy is that usage matters primarily in writing. This is because image, brand, perception of professionalism, etc. are at stake. This isn’t to say that how you speak has no consequence; it just means that everyday conversations between people are basically a linguistic free-for-all.

Usage matters more in writing than it does in most types of speech.

But writing is different.

In fact, clients pay us to correct their writing and make it as polished as possible both in grammatical and stylistic terms. But speech? Never.
We don’t go around correcting people’s speech on the street. Why? For starters, it’s obnoxious. But it’s also unnecessary. Speech is fluid and spontaneous. By contrast, a piece of writing is planned and can be edited multiple times prior to publication.
So go ahead and say There’s a lot of reasons  why I want to go—just don’t write it.

Now, if you want to learn to write better (especially online), check out these examples of great writing and then see our post on writing web content that works.

And the next time a stranger stops you on the street to ask you the question Is a lot singular or plural? tell him, “My good man, it can be either.”

Further Reading

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Speaking of Facebook, the company practically embraces they as a singular pronoun. And it looks the Washington Post is okay with it, too.

There is a surprising amount of confusion between these two words (one of which isn’t actually a word) and which is the correct form to appear in your sentences.

Today, I want to go over the difference between a lot vs. alot and show you a few tricks to remember which of them to use. After reading this post, you won’t ever confuse them again.

While it may be common to see the word “alot” throughout Internet commenting or text messaging, the word is never seen in print, and the reason is simple: it isn’t an actual word.

That’s right. If you go to any dictionary, you will not find the word “alot” as an entry, which makes it all the more interesting why the confusion between the two exists.

What Is a “Lot”?

The two-word construction a lot is just that: two separate words. You have the article a and the noun lot. The word lot is defined as, “a large number or amount, a great deal.”

For example,

• You just drank a lot of milk with dinner.
• Your car uses a lot of gas.
• You read a lot of books.

Just as you wouldn’t combine other instances of article + noun constructions in your sentences, adog, acat, ahorse, etc., you don’t combine the two words a lot. There’s no rhyme or reason to why people combine the words, but plenty of people make the mistake.

And no one knows exactly why. It could be that since the word lot isn’t used in many other instances besides the phrase a lot that writers began to think of alot as the actual word being used and not lot.

Other uses of lot, such as a beautiful lot of land or a parking lot, often pale in comparison to the frequency of the phrase a lot, so it’s easy to see how people could get mixed up. Even this, however, isn’t a totally convincing reason because the plural use of lot (lots) is used correctly with great frequency.

Another possible explanation is the similar features the phrase a lot has with the unrelated word allot.

When to Use Allot

Despite sounding similar to—and being spelled similar as—a lot, the single word allot is an unrelated verb. To allot something is “to give or apportion something to someone as a share.”

For example,

• Will you please allot me my share of the inheritance?
• The lawyer allotted the remained assets from the will.
• During the debate, equal time will be allotted to each party.

As I said above, the fact that this word sounds alike and looks similar to a lot may cause some people to confuse the two.

Remember the Difference

Now that we know a lot is the correct choice for our sentences, here are a few tricks to remember this fact.

Something my grade school English teacher would say to help us remember is,

• A lot is a lot of words.

Another great trick I learned from a reader of mine is similar to the analogy I gave above about combining words like a dog into adog.

• You cannot say “alittle,” so you cannot say “alot.”

Makes sense doesn’t it?

Summary

It’s important to keep track of these two words in your writing because alot vs. a lot are very different.

Alot is not a word.

A lot is the correct choice.