[Image credit: Stuart Miles]

The topic of today’s grammar lesson came by way of  an old friend from the Midwest (thanks W.A.!).  These three words (a lot, alot and allot) are another set of (incorrectly) interchangeably used terms, although they possess different meanings.  A lot is a great deal of something.  For example, It takes a lot of courage to dig deep and confront our less than desirable character traits.  Alot is not a word; i.e., Alot cannot be used correctly in any sort of context.  Allot means to assign or allocate.  A sample sentence may read: My boss plans to allot me additional responsibilities as the business continues to grow.  I can’t really think of an easy way to remember the proper usage of these words, except for memorizing each of their definitions.  If all else fails, either Google it or choose a different expression to convey your thoughts to your readers.

Do you have a lot of issues you allot to grammar and its usage?