ALL, THE WHOLE AND BOTH

1). ALL AND ALL OF

We use all or all of when we are talking about the total number of things or people in a group, or the total amount of something.

Example:

- All (of) my brothers and sisters were at the airport to see me off.

- The baby seems to cry all (of) the time.

NOTE:

Ø To make negative sentences with all we normally use not all, particularly in a formal style,.

Example: Not all the seats were taken. (rather than All the seats were not taken)

Ø However, in spoken English we sometimes use all…not. We can also use none (of). But notice that not all and none (of) have a different meaning.

Compare:

- Not all my cousins were at the wedding. (= some of them were there) and

- None of my cousins were at the wedding. (= not one of them were there)

POSITION OF ALL

Ø Notice where we should put all in the following sentences in order to make those sentences meaningful or more accurate.

Example:

- We are all going to Athens during the vacation. (rather than We all are going…)

- They have all heard the news already. (rather than They all have heard…)

- All (of) their hard work had been of no use. (not Their all hard work…)

- These are all confidential files. (not These are all…)

Ø In modern English we don’t use all without a noun or mean ‘everyone’ or ‘everything’

Example:

- Everyone was waiting to hear the results. (not All were waiting…)

- I don’t agree with all that he said. (= everything that he said)

Ø We can also use all without a noun to mean ‘the only thing.’

Example: All she wants to do is help.

2). ALL (OF) THE AND THE WHOLE (OF)

Ø Before singular countable nouns we usually use the whole (of) rather than all (of) the.

Example:

- They weren’t able to stay for the whole concert. (rather than …all (of) the concert.)

- The whole of the field was flooded. (rather than All (of) the field was flooded.)

NOTE: However, in informal speech all (of) the is sometimes used in this way.

Ø Before plural nouns we can use all (of) or whole, but they have different meanings.

Compare:

- All (of the) towns had their electricity cut off. (= every town in an area) and

- After the storm, whole towns were left without electricity. (= some towns were completely affected)

3). BOTH (OF) AND ALL (OF)

Ø We use both (of) when we want to talk about two things together. Both (of) and all (of) are used in the same places in sentences.

Compare:

- Both (of) the houses have now been sold.

- Are both of you (or Are you both) going to the conference?

- I went on holiday with both of them (or …with them both…) last year.

- They have both finished their dinner. (rather than They both have finished…)

NOTE: We don’t usually use negative sentences with both (of). Instead we can use neither (of).

Example: Neither of them knew the answer. (rather than Both of them didn’t know the answer.)

v However, in informal speech both (of) is sometimes used in this way.


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