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"Lots of" ou "a lot of" com
substantivos contáveis e incontáveis 
04/12/11

É uma confusão, isso sim! Muitos "grammarians" dizem que "lots of" e "a lot of" é informal, e que podem ser usados indistintamente tanto com substantivos contáveis como incontáveis. O que vejo no dia a dia é que estas duas expressões estão completamente inseridas dentro da cultura linguística americana. Será que somos sempre tão informais assim?

This is what I see in everyday English: 

==> Lots of is more commonly used with uncountable nouns:

Lots of time is needed for this project.

Sheila likes lots of jelly on her toast.

 

==> A lot of is more commonly used with countable nouns - but hey, it can also be found with uncountables! (I told you it's a confusion!)

I used a lot of fruits to make this special desert.

.... or, lots of fruits...

I wasted a lot of money on that project. (see, money is uncountable, and it's ok to use 'a lot of' here).

 

Don't drive yourself nuts on this matter. To be honest, I think it's a matter of taste and style. I wouldn't say "Sheila likes a lot of jelly on her toast" - I personally think it sounds better "lots of jelly". Sometimes there isn't a "right" or "wrong", but just "preferable". You have to keep reading and listening, and using English to find out your own style.

 

Now, this is  more important!  Regardless of using lots of or a lot of, it's important to recognize which nouns are countable and which are uncountable.

Why?  Because of the adverbs. When you want to use adverbs like much, many, fewer, less you need to know where they go! It's also worth knowing which ones take plural, or are only plural, or only singular...

Countable and Uncountable Nouns.

--If you are a subscriber, you received the quizz in your email. Now, compare your answers to this list below.  --

 

Uncountable  Nouns	Obs:
wine information money rice cheese equipment traffic rain water talent clothes music pollution understanding beer wood meat butter furniture garbage advice bread knowledge luggage news pasta progress   work   research travel	Use "some", " much", "less": Yes, I will have some wine, please. Wow, there is so much wine in this room! There is less wine in this glass now...  Lots of equipment you have here! (Note that there is no plural for for "equipment") There is too much furniture in this room.  BUT, there are many pieces of furniture in this room. (=> it became countable because of "pieces", and you use many with countable nouns). You sing, you dance, you fly airplanes... wow, you have so many talents!  WRONG!!!!!! This would be right in Portuguese!  In English is: You have so much talent! DON'T use a/an before uncountable nouns: In Portuguese it is common to hear: "Vou comprar um vinho" -- don't say it in English "I will buy a wine", because wine is uncountable and you can only buy "some wine", or, if you want to count it, say "I will buy a bottle of wine". A bottle is countable, not the liquid inside. Same thing for information: Portuguese: Eu gostaria de uma informação, por favor?  (ou umas informações...) English: Can you give me some information, please? -- Attention: No plural form here!!!     News = it seems to be plural, but it's treated as singular:  what is the news today?   Clothes are strictly plural. If you want to be specific to a certain piece of clothing, then you say, well, "a piece of clothing"!  ;-)  Or you name the piece, like a shirt, or a skirt, etc... Otherwise, it's general, it refers to all clothes.   Work is general too. You don't say, "how many works do you have?"  But instead, how many jobs, or positions, or tasks, activities. We cannot have many works, only much work.  But several jobs, or tasks, etc... BUT: art work is countable, because it refers to a piece of something. It's not work in general.
Countable Nouns	Obs:
art work / art works rule / rules fruit/fruits (some grammarians state that fruit is uncountable)     deer sheep fish       song / songs   land /lands	Use "some", " many", "fewer": I want to buy some art work for my living room. I wish there were fewer rules to follow! I don't have many fruits at home, only oranges... BUT, in "a bowl of fruit", fruit is uncountable; is general. Only the bowl is countable. Same for "a piece of fruit". There is no plural form: one deer / two deer / many deer one sheep/ two sheep / many sheep one fish / two fish / many fish However... if you are talking about different kind of fishes, yes, it can go to the plural form. I like all the fishes in the ocean, or all tropical fishes are beautiful. Compare "song" to "music" - music is general, is uncountable and only singular. "Land" is countable if it is a country or nation. If the meaning is "an area of the ground, the soil" then it's uncountable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you need further explanation and more examples on this topic, and you are a subscriber or a member, just ask me

 

Dúvidas sobre este tema?

Gramática, cultura, expressões idiomáticas em inglês? 

Drop me a line at:

 

 

Dúvidas de vocabulário? Here is the solution: 

http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-portuguese/catch
Dicionário online, inglês-português

Vocabulário e Pronúncia?

http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/home
Merriam-Webster, Dicionário online inglês-inglês

 

 

 

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