Is Lots Informal

Posted By admin On 15/04/22

Is Lots Informal
Is Lots Informal Definition

By many English speakers both are considered informal and colloquial, more suited to casual or familiar conversation, rather than written or business English. However, ‘lots of’ is generally considered slightly less acceptable as Standard English and more suited solely to casual conversation. A lot of and lots of are common in spoken English and sound quite informal. Lots of is slightly more informal than a lot of. In more formal spoken and written English, we often use many, much, plenty, a large number of and a large amount of. These phrases are mainly used in informal English – lots of sounds a bit more informal than a lot of. Both forms are used in singular and in plural sentences. It is not the phrase a lot of or lots of which determines singular or plural, but the noun of the sentence (here: water and computers). The expressions a lot of and lots of are rather informal. In a more formal style, we prefer expressions like ‘a great deal of’, ‘a large number of’, much or many. A great deal of time is needed to learn a new language. A lot of and lots of are not normally used in questions or negative sentences.

Here you will find idioms and other useful phrases.

Idioms/Informal Phrases	Sample Sentences
A
about to	Peggy is about to leave.
in advance	We booked the tickets in advance.
alive and kicking	I love Berlin. It's alive and kicking.
all of a sudden	I went out in the sun. Then, all of a sudden, it started to rain.
all over the place	There are environmental problems all over the place.
B
to go from bad to worse	My marks went from bad to worse last term.
to bag sth.	Tom bagged this special offer at an online-shop.
beat-up	Mark is too beat-up to play tennis this evening.
to do the best	He always does his best.
blabber	Don't listen to him, he's a blabber.
to blag sth.	Once in a while young Tim blags his father's cigarettes.
bloody	What a bloody day!
to be blue	She's been feeling blue all day.
a closed book
bouncer	A bouncer's task is to keep out those who might cause trouble.
bowl of cherries	Marriage it's not always bowls of cherries.
be broke	I can't go to the cinema with you, I'm broke.
to brush up on sth.	I have to brush up on my Spanish.
buck	You can buy a DVD player for less than 100 bucks.
butt	You're a pain in the butt.
buzz	Parachuting gives me a real buzz.
Buzz off!	Buzz off! I have told you not to come to my place anymore.
C
a close call	I had a close call. A stone almost hit me!
like cat and dog
to catch sth.	Sorry, I didn't quite catch your telephone number.
to catch (a) cold	I walked out in the rain, so I caught (a) cold.
not to have a clue	I don't have a clue about repairing the faucet.
Come off it!	Come off it! This isn't the truth.
as far as I'm concerned	As far as I'm concerned, I'd like to watch the film.
cop	A big crowd of cops gathered in front of the Bank of England.
corner shop	Mother really liked corner shosp when she was a child.
cram school	Many pupils have to go to a cram school in the afternoon.
on credit	I'd not buy the new TV on credit.
cut	Mr Brown made big cuts of $500 million.
D
damned	I hate going through that damned rush hour.
to drive like the devil
to dig in one's heels	If you take or express an opinion and refuse to change it, you dig in your heels.
dirt cheap
to disrespect sb.	Poor people shouldn't be disrespected.
to do one's best	He does his best to fix the car.
to do someone good	Let's go on a holiday. The sun will do us good.
to do without	If there's no milk for the tea, it'll do without.
down under	Down under will be my next destination.
E
to be up to one's ears	Sorry, I can't go out with you. I'm up to my ears in work.
to eat like a horse
to eat like a pig
every now and then	Every now and then I play the piano.
every other	He comes to me every other week.
to see eye to eye	World Bank and IMF see eye to eye on Asia
F
fair enough	Fair enough! Let's go out for dinner tonight.
fiddle	Especially fiddles are necessary to play folk music.
to keep the fingers crossed	I have to see the doctor for a checkup. - I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
flutter	The old lady loves a flutter on the slot machine.
folk	We all are fond of the Irish folk.
for free	I was lucky. I got this CD for free.
freak out	Ron freaked out when he heard that Peter had broken his car.
fridge	Butter must be kept in the fridge.
G
to get a lot of stick	In his new job Jack gets a lot of stick.
to get cold feet	He wanted to speak to the boss, but he didn't. He got cold feet.
to get fed up with sth.	They get fed up with their neighbour's parties.
to get rid of sth.	We have to get rid of that old car.
to get sth.	Jason, did you finally get your exercise?
to take sth. for granted	I took it for granted the meeting was on Tuesday.
greasy spoon	I'd rather starve instead of eating at a greasy spoon.
groovy	This cocktail tastes greasy spoon.
guy	Jennifer fell in love with the guy from the supermarket.
H
had better	You'd better go now.
on the other hand	Sue likes pop music, on the other hand she doesn't like discos.
to give a hand	Can you give me a hand with the cupboard?
hard graft	Building our house has been a hard graft.
by heart	My brother has to learn the poem by heart.
hip	Molly always knows what's hip.
to hold s.o.'s horses	›Hold your horses‹, I said when John began to leave the room.
to be hooked on sth.	Bill is hooked on car racing.
J
to jump down sb.'s throat	The boss jumped down my throat because I was late for work.
K
knackered	What has happened? You look so knackered.
to keep an eye on sth./sb.	Will you keep an eye on my baby?
L
little by little	Andrew had an accident while playing ice-hockey. Little by little he begins to walk.
to look forward to sb.	I look forward to my holidays in Rome.
M
to make ends meet	She's been out of work for years. How can she make ends meet with four children?
to make friends easily	Chris makes friends easily.
to make oneself at home	Come in, please. Make youreself at home.
to make the most	Let's make the most of the last day of our holidays.
to make up one's mind	Did you make up your mind to buy a new computer?
mash	I love Grandma's homemade mash.
What's the matter?	You look sad. What's the matter? with you?
to be mean	Grandfather is mean with money.
to meet sb. halfway	I don't like his ideas, but I can imagine that we should meet halfway.
to mess around	The clown messed around to make the children laugh.
to mess up	Sandy has really messed up this time.

Thanks to Alina, Elisabeth and Friedrich.

Difference Between Lots of and A Lot of

Summary: These expressions are used in informal English. The Difference Between Lots of and A Lot of is that A lot of / lots of mean ‘a great quantity of’ or a ‘large number of’. A lot of and lots of can be used before a countable or an uncountable noun. A lot means ‘a great deal’.

Lots of

These expressions can be used before a countable or an uncountable noun.

A lot of people want to buy cars.
A lot of money was wasted on the project.
I have a lot of work to do.
There is a lot of meat left.

Verbs are a lot of / lots of

If a lot of / lots of is used before a plural subject, the verb is plural. If these expressions are used before a singular noun, the verb is singular.

A lot of patience is needed to learn a new language. (NOT A lot of patience are needed to learn a new language.)
A lot of my friends live abroad. (NOT A lot of my friends lives abroad.)

A Lot

A lot means ‘a great deal’. It is an adverb. Note that a lot is not followed by a noun.

I like him a lot. (NOT I like him a lot of.)
She reads a lot.
James travels a lot.

Note

Is Lots Informal

The expressions a lot of and lots of are rather informal. In a more formal style, we prefer expressions like ‘a great deal of’, ‘a large number of’, much or many.

A great deal of time is needed to learn a new language.

Is Lots Informal Definition

A lot of and lots of are not normally used in questions or negative sentences.