「lot」と「lots」の違いは何ですか?

This question came up in class the other day: what's the difference between "lot" and "lots"?

The basic answer is that "lot" is a singular noun, while "lots" is a plural noun. That means you should use "a" in front of "lot", but don't do that with "lots".

The meaning is the same, though. Personally, I'm likely to use them like this:

• a lot of __(uncountable noun)__
• lots of __(countable noun)__

However, either way is OK.

This, though, is definitely wrong:

× a lots of __(n)__

I was missing Taiwanese food. In particular, I wanted to eat sesame sauce noodles. To feed my craving for sesame sauce noodles, I made some tonight for my late-night dinner.

• craving for ～に対する欲求、～への［～に対する］憧｛あこが｝れ、～への渇望｛かつぼう｝

The pot is filled with a lot of sesame sauce soup which I can pour over noodles. On the side you can see there are lots of bean sprouts to put on top of the noodles.

• 萌やし (もやし) (n) bean sprouts;

I think it turned out pretty well, but I will use a lot more sesame paste in the sauce next time. Next time I'll show you the finished noodles!

「wanna」と「want」の違いは何ですか?

You might have heard or seen the word "wanna" somewhere, like the Cyndi Lauper song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTtelwOgscM

Notice that the Youtube page says "Girls just wanna have fun!" but in the video it says "Girls Just Want to Have Fun".

So, usually "wanna" means "want to". It's basically incorrect, and you shouldn't really use it unless you are writing dialogue. However, even when we use it, we have to follow some basic grammar rules. Remember, if you use a singular third person noun, you have to add "s" to the verb. That means:

× What he wanna do in the future is...
○ What he wants to do in the future is...
× My friend wanna go to that restaurant.
○ My friend wants to go to that restaurant.

These are OK, though, as long as you are talking and not writing:
○ I wanna take a vacation! <- first person, so no "s" = I want to take a vacation.
○ They don't wanna see that. <- third person singular, so no "s" = They don't want to see that.
○ We wanna go home! <- again, no "s" is needed = We want to go home!

Now, I wanna eat this chocolate! It's 86 percent cacao -- my favorite! Have a good weekend!