Allandwholeare determiners.
We use them before nouns and with other determiners to refer to a total number orcomplete set of things in a group.
| all+ determiner + noun |
| determiner +whole+ noun |
All myfamily lives abroad. orMy wholefamily lives abroad.
We often useallandthe wholewithof the:
She complainsall of thetime. or She complainsthe whole of thetime.
We usea/anwithwholebut not withall:
I spenta wholeday looking for that book and eventually found it in a little old bookshop on the edge of town.
Not: …all a day…
Allorwholefor single entities
We usethe wholeorthe whole ofto refer to complete single things and eventsthat are countable and defined:
The whole performancewas disappointing from start to finish.(orThe whole of the performancewas disappointing …)
When we can split up a thing into parts, we can use eitherwholeorallwith the same meaning:
You don’t have to paythe whole (of the) billat once.
You don’t have to payall (of) the billat once.
She atethe whole orange.
She ateall of the orange.
We often usethe whole ofwith periods of time to emphasise duration:
We spentthe whole (of the) summerat the beach.
All thewith uncountable nouns
We useall theand notthe wholewith uncountable nouns:
She was givenall the adviceshe needed.
Not:She was given the whole advice…
All the equipmentis supplied.
Allandwholewith plural nouns
We usually useall theandall of thewithplural nouns:
It’s funny whenall the actorscome in dressed up in their costumes.
She opensall the cupboard doorsand doesn’t close them after her.
You have to tryall of the activities.
When we usewholewith plural nouns, it means ‘complete’ or ‘entire’.
| entire families |
| each and every family |
Allandwhole: typical errors
We don’t useallbeforeaandan:
She atea wholebar of chocolate in one go.
Not:She ate all a bar…
We can’t omitthebeforewholewith a singular noun:
We travelled throughoutthe whole country.
Not: …throughout whole country.