all
/ɔːl/The whole quantity or extent of something; every one of a group or thing.
All the students passed the exam.
She ate all the cookies.
Used with plural countable nouns, uncountable nouns, or pronouns.
Completely; entirely.
I was all excited when I heard the news.
He was all 'I can't believe it!' when he saw the car.
In informal spoken English, 'all' can emphasize emotional reactions or quoted speech.
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💡Pro Tip
Use 'all' with determiners correctly
Remember the structure: 'all' comes before articles and possessives. Say 'all the books' or 'all my money', not 'the all books' or 'my all money'.
⚡Gold Rule
Position of 'all' in noun phrases
Place 'all' before the determiner (the, my, this) and after auxiliary verbs. Correct: 'All the people came.' / 'They have all gone.' Avoid: 'The all people came.'
📖Word Origin
From Old English 'eall', from Proto-Germanic *alnaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ol-no-, derived from *ol- meaning 'whole, all'. Related to German 'all', Dutch 'al', and Scandinavian 'all'.
📝Usage Notes
Use 'all' before articles (the, a/an), demonstratives (this, that), possessives (my, your), or quantifiers (some, any). Structure: all + (determiner) + noun. Example: 'all the time', 'all my friends'.