a lot of things

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Hellothere - 24 Jan 2007 21:57 GMT

It bugs me when I hear or read "there are a lot of things..." meaning
"there are many things."

"There are many things..." is fine, because we are taking about
"things," of which there are many.

However, "there are a lot of things" irritates me, because it sounds to
me like "there are a group of people..." (which we would never say). We
would say, "there IS a group of people..." Likewise, shouldn't it be
"there IS a lot of things..."?

Help.

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Robert Bannister - 25 Jan 2007 00:23 GMT

> It bugs me when I hear or read "there are a lot of things..." meaning
> "there are many things."
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> would say, "there IS a group of people..." Likewise, shouldn't it be
> "there IS a lot of things..."?

I doubt very much that anybody today considers "lot" in "a lot" to be a
noun at all outside auctioneering and building circles. Anyway, even if
you pick another, real noun like "a whole heap", "a horde", "a number",
etc. normal English usage predicts a verb that agrees with the noun that
you are talking about - in this case "things", not "lot". This is not
new, although some people will still disagree on "a number of things".

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Rob Bannister

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Robert Lieblich - 25 Jan 2007 00:28 GMT

> It bugs me when I hear or read "there are a lot of things..." meaning
> "there are many things."
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Help.

Brace yourself, Hellothere. There's nothing wrong with "A lot of
______ are." Check these out and mend your ways:

<http://www.alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxanumbe.html> (This is
from the AUE FAQ. The principle applies to many nouns in addition to
"number.")

<http://www.bartleby.com/68/46/246.html>

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv49.shtml>

You'll find many threads in this group discussing this particular
issue. Here are three (There's a fair amount of cross-talk, but the
point comes through):

<http://tinyurl.com/3yvpwk>

<http://tinyurl.com/2nuywo>

<http://tinyurl.com/3262nc>

And if you really want to get deep into the topic, there's always
Language Log:
<http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004035.html>.

You'll find similar views expressed in such respected usage books as
Burchfield's "Fowler" and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary of English
Usage, but they're not online.

It will be interesting to see if anyone posts agreement with you.

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Bob Lieblich
Idiom Savant (and don't you forget it!)

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Hellothere - 25 Jan 2007 01:02 GMT

[...]

> Brace yourself, Hellothere. There's nothing wrong with "A lot of
> ______ are." Check these out and mend your ways:

Do I really have to [mend my ways]? :-)

> <http://www.alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxanumbe.html> (This is
> from the AUE FAQ. The principle applies to many nouns in addition to
> "number.")

I looked for "a lot of things" and did not find much. Still, I should
also have looked for variations, like "a number of..."

Thanks for the references.

[...]

> It will be interesting to see if anyone posts agreement with you.

I was just asking for educated opinions, one way or another.

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Mike Lyle - 25 Jan 2007 15:04 GMT

> [...]

>> It will be interesting to see if anyone posts agreement with you.
>
> I was just asking for educated opinions, one way or another.

Ok, here's mine, the product of several years' higher education: I was a
medium-lousy student, but Bob's right.

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Mike.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

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Robert Lieblich - 25 Jan 2007 22:53 GMT

> > [...]
>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> Ok, here's mine, the product of several years' higher education: I was a
> medium-lousy student, but Bob's right.

While I'm being right, Mike, you were an outstanding student.

Bask in the glow.

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Bob Lieblich
A medium-lousy student

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Steve Hayes - 25 Jan 2007 04:33 GMT

>It bugs me when I hear or read "there are a lot of things..." meaning
>"there are many things."

What do you think of "alot of things"?

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Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

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Hellothere - 25 Jan 2007 07:24 GMT

[...]

> What do you think of "alot of things"?

I think someone should be taken outside and shot. There is no need to
ruin the furniture.

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007

a lot of things