Tip of the week
Often small tips can help increase the fluency of our written and spoken English. Every week this podcast will cover a small grammatical point.
This week, all, every and whole.
All, every and whole can sometimes be used interchangeably. This week's podcast will explain how to use them correctly.
All and everybody/everyone
We do not normally use all to mean everybody or everyone.
For instance, we say, "everybody enjoyed the party", but not "all enjoyed…"
Note that in this context, we do say "all of us".
Thus, "all of us enjoyed the party" (not, "everybody of us")
All and everything
Sometimes you can use all or everything.
For instance, "I'll do all I can to help", or "I'll do everything I can to help."
We do not normally use all alone.
For instance, you can say, "he thinks he knows everything." (not, "he knows all")
Or, "The presentation was a disaster. Everything not wrong." (not, "all went wrong")
We use all in the expression "all about"
We can say, "he told me all about the presentation."
We also use all to mean "the only thing(s)"
For instance, "all I've eaten today is a sandwich." (Meaning, "the only thing I've eaten today...")
Every/everybody/everyone and everything are singular words, so we use a singular verb:
Every seat in the theatre was taken/everybody has arrived.
However, we often use they/them/their after everybody and everyone.
"Everybody said they enjoyed themselves." (meaning, he or she enjoyed him or herself)