time allotment

Meaning

1. 1nouncountable

   a fixed amount of time officially given to someone for a particular activity or task

   Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a time allotment' or 'time allotments'. It is often followed by 'for' plus the activity.

   Patterns

   • a time allotment for something
   • a time allotment of + number + minutes/hours
   • give someone a time allotment

   Each speaker will receive a time allotment of ten minutes for questions.

   The teacher increased the time allotment for the exam because the questions were difficult.

   Managers should respect the time allotment agreed in the meeting schedule.

Word forms

Common combinations

a generous time allotment

The committee gave a generous time allotment to the public consultation.

exceed the time allotment

If you exceed the time allotment, the extra minutes will not be counted.

a time allotment for each task

The app shows a time allotment for each task in the project.

increase the time allotment

They decided to increase the time allotment for the final presentation.

Synonyms and how they differ

time limit

A time limit is a maximum period allowed, often with a penalty if you go over it; a time allotment is simply the amount of time given, without the idea of a strict cut-off.

time slot

A time slot is a particular period in a schedule when something happens; a time allotment focuses on the length of time given, not the position in the schedule.

allocation

Allocation is a more general word for an amount of something given out; time allotment is specifically about time.

Word family

allot verb

to give a share of something, such as time or money, to someone

allotted adjective

given as a share; used in phrases like 'the allotted time'

Commonly confused: time allotment or time allocation?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “time allotment”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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