ENGLISH
REFERENCE

quite a lot

fixed phr..
A2 Elementary Oxford

fixed phr.. A large amount or a large number of something. You can use it to mean 'many' or 'much'.

fixed phr.. A fixed quantifier phrase indicating a large but indefinite quantity or number. It is common in both spoken and written English.


SIMPLE

She travels quite a lot for her job.

CONTEXTUAL

We spent quite a lot of money on our holiday last year.

COMPLEX

The research revealed quite a lot of variation among the samples, which complicated the initial hypothesis.

Usage

Use it as a pronoun ('He knows quite a lot') or with 'of' before a noun ('quite a lot of people').

Teaching tip

Point out that 'quite a lot (of)' works for both countable and uncountable nouns, whereas 'quite a few' is used only for countable nouns.

Pitfall

I have quite lot of work to do.I have quite a lot of work to do.The indefinite article 'a' is a required part of this fixed phrase.

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