090 : all / every / whole

   A   

All and everybody/everyone

 

We do not normally use all to mean everybody/everyone:

• Everybody had a great time at the party. (not All enjoyed)

 

But we say all of us / all of you / all of them:

• All of us had a great time at the party. (not Everybody of us)

 

 

   B   

All and everything

 

Sometimes you can use all or everything:

• I'll do all I can to help.  or  I'll do everything I can to help.

 

You can say 'all I can' / 'all you need' etc., but we do not normally use all alone:

• He thinks he knows everything. (not he knows all)
• Our holiday was a disaster. Everything went wrong. (not All went wrong)

 

But you can say all about:

• He knows all about computers.

 

We also use all (not everything) to mean 'the only thing(s)':

• All I've eaten today is a sandwich. (= the only thing I've eaten today)

 

 

   C   

Every / everybody / everyone / everything are singular words, so we use a singular verb:

• Every seat in the theatre was taken.
• Everybody has arrived. (not have arrived)

 

But we use they/them/their after everybody/everyone:

• Everybody said they enjoyed themselves. (= everybody enjoyed himself or herself)

 

 

   D   

Whole and all

 

Whole = complete, entire. Most often we use whole with singular nouns:

• Did you read the whole book? (= all the book, not just a part of it)
• Emily has lived her whole life in the same town.
• I was so hungry, I ate a whole packet of biscuits. (= a complete packet)

 

We use the/my/her etc. before whole. Compare whole and all:
her whole life  but  all her life

 

We do not normally use whole with uncountable nouns. We say:

• I've spent all the money you gave me. (not the whole money)

 

 

   E   

Every/all/whole with time words

 

We use every to say how often something happens (every day / every Monday / every ten minutes / every three weeks etc.):

• When we were on holiday, we went to the beach every day. (not all days)
• The bus service is excellent. There's a bus every ten minutes.
• We don't see each other very often - about every six months.

 

All day / the whole day = the complete day from beginning to end:

• We spent all day / the whole day on the beach.
• Dan was very quiet. He didn't say a word all evening / the whole evening.

 

Note that we say all day (not all the day), all week (not all the week) etc.

 

Compare all the time and every time:

• They never go out. They are at home all the time. (= always, continuously)
• Every time I see you, you look different. (= each time, on every occasion)