Word of the Day: All
The word “all” is a pronoun that refers to a large group of things or people, or it’s used to include 100% of a group.
- All of the students passed the test. (100%)
- All people need food, clothing, and shelter. (100%)
- All of the houses in the neighborhood were destroyed by the storm. (100%)
- We’re going to complete all of the work by tomorrow. (Notice that “all” is often–but not always–followed by the preposition “of.”)
To show less than a hundred percent of something, put the word “not” in front of “all.”
- Not all of the passengers on the bus survived the crash.
- Not all people have the same beliefs.
- Not all of us are happy with the results of the election.
Use “all” in front of time expressions and times during the day:
- The children slept well all night.
- Rogelio and Alba spent all last week moving to their new house.
- This project is going to last all year long.
- The people behind us talked all during the movie.
- What do you do all day?
Pay attention to the type of noun used with “all” in order to maintain subject-verb agreement:
- All of the eggs are cracked. (eggs = count noun)
- All of the rice is cooked. (rice = noncount noun)
- All of his teeth are missing. (teeth = count noun)
- All of the water is clean. (water = noncount noun)
Use “all” When trying to express how easy or simple something is.
- All you have to do to start the car is push this button.
- All they need in order to take the test is a pencil.
- All she ever wanted was her mother’s respect.
Use “all” to express dissatisfaction:
- Is this all of the pizza? Isn’t there more?
- Is this all?
- Is that all?
- This can’t be all.
- Are you sure this is all?
- Where are all of my students today?
Many speakers of American English put the words “you” and “all” together to form a contraction: y’all. This is not grammatically correct, but it is a type of slang.
- Y’all better listen up.
- Y’all gotta come back soon.
- What’s up, y’all?
(This is not how your teacher would ordinarily speak, but I thought it was important to include the examples above.)
Essential English Dictionary
Visit the Popular English Words Beginning with A page to see the list of all words starting with letter A. For seeing the HiCafe dictionary, visit the Popular English Words with Meaning page.
