A lot / some / any

a)a lot of = many or much

-There is a lot of traffic on one side of the street.
-There are a lot of cars on one side of the street.
-A lot of traffic = many cars

b) not a lot of = not many or not much

-There isn't a lot of traffic on the other side.
-There are some cars but not very many.
(some = a relatively small amount but "some" is not easy to quantify or equate to a
particular number.)

C) Use "any" with negatives and questions.

-There isn't any traffic in the street.
-There aren't any cars. (not any = 0)
-Do you see any people?

d)A lot, some, and any are used with indefinite amounts:
Example:
Q: How many students are there in the classroom:
A: There are a lot. (This is a large number). Or....
A: There are some students. (This is a small number but the number is not known.)
Or....
A: There aren't any students. (This is zero or a very, very small number and the number
is not known.