Word
lotta
Phoneticslot·ta
/ˈɫɑtə/
Definition
det. a short way of saying 'a lot of'. You use it in casual speech or informal writing to mean a large amount of something.
det. a phonetic spelling of the contraction 'a lot of', representing rapid or informal speech. Typically precedes a noun or noun phrase to indicate a large quantity.
Examples
“There is a lotta food on the table.”
“I have a lotta work to finish before I can go out tonight.”
“While the lyrics contain a lotta slang that might confuse a new learner, the catchy melody makes the song easy to enjoy regardless of the vocabulary.”
Examples
simple
“There is a lotta food on the table.”
contextual
“I have a lotta work to finish before I can go out tonight.”
complex
“While the lyrics contain a lotta slang that might confuse a new learner, the catchy melody makes the song easy to enjoy regardless of the vocabulary.”
Usage
Informal contraction; should be avoided in formal or academic writing. Functions as a quantifier before both countable and uncountable nouns.
Pitfall
a lotta of people
a lotta people
The 'a' at the end of 'lotta' already represents the word 'of', so adding 'of' again is redundant.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/lotta