UNIT 88. All, very, and whole

A

All and everybody/everyone

We do not normally use all to mean everybody/everyone:
– Everybody enjoyed the party. (not All enjoyed)

But we say all of us/you/them (not everybody of …):
– All of us enjoyed the party. (not Everybody of us)

B

All and everything

Sometimes you can use all of 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 vacation was a disaster. Everything went wrong. (not All went wrong)

We also use all (not everything) to mean “the only thing(s)”:
– All I’ve eaten today is 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 theater was taken.
– Everyone has arrived. (not have arrived)

But we often say they/them/their after everybody/everyone:
– Everybody said they enjoyed themselves. (= he or she 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 of the book, not just a part of it)
– Lila has lived her whole life in Chile.
– I was so hungry, I ate a whole package of cookies. (= a complete package)

We use the/my/her, etc. before whole. Compare whole and all:
– the whole way / all the way
– her whole life / 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 10 minutes / every three weeks. etc.):
– When we were on vacation, we went to the beach every day. (not all days)
– The bus service is very good. There’s a bus every 10 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 while day at the beach.
– Dan was very quiet. He didn’t say a word all night / the whole night.

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)