To allot is to divvy up. You might allot a few hours of your day to study for a test. The words a lot refer to a large amount. If you’re taking a hard class, you’ll need to allot a lot of hours to study!
To allot means to parcel out, like to allot two weeks off for employees or to allot one slice of cake per party guest. If you allot only fifteen minutes to get ready in the morning, you better be fast! The word allot often appears as allotted. Let’s allot some space here for usage examples:
He doesn’t allot quality time to his relatives either. (Woe is I)
Each is allotted its own oven, and each is sent forth into the neighborhood in identical white pizza boxes for delivery. (New York Times)
A lot, on the other hand, is always two words. The word lot means a plot of land or a group of something, and that a is an article and not a part of the word, as in "a bunch." If you like whipped cream, ask for a lot. If you follow a band, you like their music a lot. Here are a few examples (not a lot):
I shake a lot of parmesan cheese on my pasta. (Finding Junie Kim)
After nearly four weeks I had learned quite a lot about the monkeys. (My Life with the Chimpanzees)
Allot has two l’s because it has an extra to parcel out. But a lot needs space. If you allot time every day to learn vocabulary, you’ll know a lot of words in no time!