all

The word “all” means every one of; the whole amount, quantity, or extent of. In plain terms, the whole of something, with nothing left out — as a determiner, pronoun, or intensifying adverb.

“All” is pronounced awl (/ɔl/ in IPA).

Here is “all” used in a sentence: “All the students passed the exam.”

Words with a similar meaning to “all” include completely.

Depending on how it is used, “all” can be a determiner, a pronoun and an adverb.

The word “all” comes from Old English. From Old English eall, an ancient Germanic word going back to a prehistoric Indo-European root meaning simply "all.".

“All” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.

“All” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: every one of; the whole amount, quantity, or extent of.

"Every" goes with a singular noun and considers members one by one ("every student has a locker"), while "all" goes with plural or uncountable nouns and treats them as a complete group ("all students," "all water"). "Every" also cannot stand alone as a pronoun, but "all" can: "All were present."

With singular countable nouns, "whole" follows the article ("the whole cake"), while "all" comes before it ("all the cake"); both cover the entire thing. With plurals the meanings split: "all the villages" means every village, but "whole villages" means entire individual villages.

It depends on what "all" refers to. Use a plural verb when it stands for countable people or things ("All of them are here") and a singular verb when it means everything as a whole ("All is well," "all was quiet"). Whatever "all" replaces controls the agreement.

Both are correct before a noun: "all the money" and "all of the money" mean the same, with "all of" sounding slightly more emphatic or formal. Before a pronoun, "of" is required: "all of us," never "all us" in standard writing.