All the' and 'the whole' with nouns

We usually prefer the whole to all the with singular concrete nouns The whole is not normally used with plurals and uncountables¹

He ate the whole loaf{= all the loaf) by himself All and the whole combine with a number of (often abstract) nouns For example, we can use all or the whole in: all my business my whole business all my life/my whole life all the time'the whole time etc but normally only all in: e.g. all my hair all the money, and normally only the whole in: e.g. the whole situation the whole story the whole truth Whole can follow a, as in a whole collection a whole loaf a whole week/hour

5.22.2 Time references with 'all' and 'the whole'

All combines with words like (the) day, (the) night, (the) week (the) year (the) summer (but not with hour or century) in time references (all of the is possible, but less common):

/ waited all (the) week for him to answer The whole is stronger than all in time references and can also be used with hour and century:

I waited the whole week for him to answer Of the is possible after the whole, but is usually absent. The whole followed by of the functions as a noun and is more common in references not concerned with time: e.g. the whole (of the) book the whole (of the) building

5.22.3 'All' and 'whole' + plural countable nouns

All and whole + plural countable have different meanings in' e g All forests in North Africa were destroyed during Roman times (= every single one of them)

Whole forests in North Africa were destroyed during Roman times (= entire areas of forest)

5.23 All' compared with 'every'

All refers to a collection of things seen as one, or to an amount-/ ve read all these books. (= this whole collection) She s used all the butter (= the whole amount)

Every emphasizes single units within a group and is used only with

singular countables: I've read every book in the library (= every single one)

All can be used before a noun or on its own [> 5.18, 5.24]; every can

never stand on its own (every day, every man, etc.).

Every is often found in time references: every day every week etc and can be followed by ordinal and cardinal numbers and other' every third day every six weeks every other day, etc.: / work every other day Monday Wednesday and Friday

All and every are not normally interchangeable in time references¹ Monica spent all day with us (= one whole day) Monica spent every day with us while she was here on holiday (all the days of her holiday, thpught of separately)

5 Quantity

5.24 'All' compared with 'everyone/everybody/anyone/anybody'

All, meaning 'everybody', is uncommon in modern English: Everyone/Everybody wanted Marilyn s autograph (Not "All")

In older English, all (= everybody) can occur: All but Emily had guessed the truth

All can occur in formal contexts to mean 'all the people', but it generally needs to be qualified by e.g. a relative clause [> 1.40]:

All (those) who wish to apply must do so in writing All could be replaced by anyone'anybody:

Anyone/Anybody who wishes to apply must do so in writing Anyone/anybody is the equivalent of whoever here and is preferable to everyone'everybody. All, used on its own to mean 'all the people', occurs in a few fixed expressions:

A good time was had by all The law applies equally to all

5.25 'All' compared with 'everything'

All and everything + singular verb can be used interchangeably, though all is more formal and usually requires qualification:

All/Everything I have belongs to you All, used to mean 'everything', occurs in a few fixed phrases:

Winner takes all All, but not everything, can be used to mean 'the only thing':

All he wants is more pay for less work

5.26 'Every' compared with 'each'

5.26.1 'Every' and 'each' with reference to 'more than two'

Every and each refer to particular people or things. They can point to more than two Each is more individual and suggests 'one by one' or 'separately'. We use it to refer to a definite and usually limited number:

Each child in the school was questioned Every child is less individual and is used in much the same way as all children [> 5 18 1] to refer to a large indefinite number:

Every child enjoys Christmas ( All children enjoy Christmas.) This difference is not always important and the two words are often used interchangeably, as in:

Every/Each time I wash the car it rains Each cannot be modified; every can be modified by almost nearly, and practically and can be followed by single:

Almost every building was damaged in the earthquake

I answer every single letter I receive We can use not in front of every, but not in front of each:

Not every house on the island has electricity Every, but not each, can be used in front of a few uncountables such as assistance, encouragement, etc. though this is unusual: