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Ls 10. A lot / some / any

Lesson 10. A lot / some / any​

a lot of = many or much

  • There is a lot of traffic on one side of the street
  • There are a lot of cars on one side of the street (A lot of traffic = many cars)

not a lot of = not many or not much

  • There isn't a lot of traffic on the other side
  • There are some cars but not very many (some = a relatively small amount but "some" is not easy to quantify or equate to a particular number)
  • There were a lot of people at the beach yesterday
  • There aren't a lot of people at the beach today
  • There aren't many people at the beach today
  • There are some but not many use "any" with negatives and questions.
  • There isn't any traffic in the street.
  • There aren't any cars. (not any = 0)
  • Do you see any people? A lot, some, and any are used with indefinite amounts: Example:
  • How many students are there in the classroom
  • There are a lot (or)
  • There are some students (this is a small number but the number is not known) (or)
  • There aren't any students ( this is zero or a very, very small number and the number is not known)