all or every

Meanings

1. 1phrasefixed phrase

   Used when asking or wondering whether a whole group is meant or each member one by one.

   Grammar: Often appears in questions like 'Did you check all or every one?'

   Patterns

   • all or every + noun
   • is it all or every ...?

   Is it all students or every student who needs to sign the form?

   She couldn't tell whether he meant all the boxes or every single box.

2. 2phrasefixed phrase

   A way of contrasting a total group with each individual member of that group.

   Grammar: Used to highlight the grammar difference between the two quantifiers.

   Patterns

   • all + plural noun
   • every + singular noun

   All the guests came, and every guest brought a gift.

   All my friends like coffee, but not every friend drinks it daily.

   We use 'all' before plural nouns and 'every' before singular nouns.

Common combinations

all of them

All of them were late.

every one of us

Every one of us felt tired.

all the time

He talks about football all the time.

every single day

She practices every single day.

Synonyms and how they differ

each

'Each' focuses on members one at a time and can be used with 'of'; 'every' is more like a whole group seen member by member.

whole

'Whole' emphasizes the complete unit rather than the individual members.

Opposites

Word family

everyone pronoun

All people, considered together.

everything pronoun

All things.

altogether adverb

Completely or in total.

Commonly confused: all or every or all together? all or every or every?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “all or every”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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