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a lot about

a lot about

378 2.2
To know many things about a subject
  • idiom
translation icon : mucho sobre
  • In our history class, we discussed many events, so I learned a lot about the Civil War.
  • know a lot about
  • learn a lot about
  • talk a lot about

I've been reading a lot about Stalin and power.

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Examples

  • Through the year, I learned a lot about photography and many different artists/photographers.

    Academic text (2008)
  • The World Bank and the global community have learned a lot about development in the past 50 years.

    Academic text (2001)
  • So we got to know a lot about the Valley here.

  • My wife and I talk a lot about how lucky we are.

  • I was just gonna say that you seem to know a lot about business.

  • But from them, I learned a lot about what artists look at and what they say about it.

    Academic text (2008)
  • You can tell a lot about a person by who his favorite author is.

    Academic text (1999)
  • I knew quite a lot about Kiev, in fact, before I came.

    Academic text (2008)
  • I just feel like he's taught me a lot about love and forgiveness.

  • We've really learned a lot about the Galaxy.

Synonyms

a great deal
vsa lot about
354 1.8

Shows that something is done a lot

refers specifically to large knowledge concerning a subject
quite a bit
vsa lot about
  • Informal
235 2.8

A fairly large amount

means large knowledge about a particular subject
much
vsa lot about
1.0

A large amount of something you cannot count

applies to large knowledge but is more general and abstract

Antonyms

316 3.9

Not knowing about something or how it works

How Knowledgeable

expert
3 3.5
well-informed
33 3.5
a lot about
378 2.2
smattering
14 7.5
to know nothing
279 3.6

Surface Forms

Morphology

a + lot + about

The meaning is directly derived from the constituents: 'a lot' = a large amount and 'about' = concerning; together they yield 'a large amount concerning (a topic)'. This is a fully compositional, cross-linguistically common pattern that a B1 learner who knows the words will reliably understand.

Etymology

A lot about comes from the picture of having a lot, like a big pile of books or facts, all about a subject. So, when someone knows a lot about something, it means they have many facts and details — 'a large amount of knowledge'.