Explanation
Use "a lot of", "lots of", and "plenty of" to say that there is a large amount of something. They can come before countable nouns like "apples" and uncountable nouns like "water".
For example, "We have a lot of rice at home." Here, "We" is the subject, "have" is the verb, and "a lot of" shows a large amount. "Rice" is uncountable, so we do not add an s. Japanese often says "たくさんの", but English usually needs "of" in these phrases.
"a lot of"、"lots of"、"plenty of" は、何かの量が多いことを表します。"apples" のような可算名詞にも、"water" のような不可算名詞にも使えます。
たとえば "We have a lot of rice at home." では、"We" が主語、"have" が動詞、"a lot of" が「たくさん」を表し、"rice" は不可算名詞なので s をつけません。日本語では「たくさんの」と言いますが、英語ではこの形では普通 "of" が必要です。
Examples
- I have a lot of homework tonight. 今夜は宿題がたくさんあります。
- We bought lots of apples at the market. 私たちは市場でりんごをたくさん買いました。
- There is plenty of water in the bottle. そのボトルには水がたっぷり入っています。
- Do you have a lot of free time today? 今日は自由な時間がたくさんありますか。
- I do not have a lot of money. 私はあまりお金を持っていません。
- There are plenty of seats on the train, so we can sit together. 電車には座席がたくさんあるので、いっしょに座れます。
Common Mistakes
Japanese learners often say "a lot homework" or "lots apples" by leaving out "of". The correct forms are "a lot of homework" and "lots of apples". Also remember that some nouns like "information" are uncountable, so say "a lot of information", not "a lot of informations".
日本語の「たくさんの」をそのまま英語にして、"a lot homework" や "lots apples" のように "of" を抜かすミスがよくあります。正しくは "a lot of homework"、"lots of apples" です。さらに "information" のような不可算名詞は複数形にしないので、"a lot of information" と言い、"a lot of informations" とは言いません。