all
part of speech
determiner, pronoun (all, all of); adverb (all alone, all wet, all over); noun (give your all)
meaning for a pupil
1) All means every one, the whole lot, with none left out. tree →
2) All means the whole of something: all day, all the cake. tree →
3) As an adverb all means completely: she was all wet. tree →
4) In scores all means each side has the same: two all, 3–3. tree →
5) (casual) «All» can mean «said» in chatty US talk: and she was all, «no way!». tree →
6) (casual) «Y'all» (US South) and «you all» mean «you, every one of you». tree →
7) (formal) The exam voice says «the aggregate», «the entirety», «in total», «collectively», «in its entirety» where a child would say «all» or «in all». tree →
sense in the lessons
in «in all» the whole amount when parts are put together («How many in all?» = total); also «all of them»; in class «all four operations», «that's all»; in everyday life «all right», «at all», «after all», «all together», «all day long», «all over the floor»; in safety «all clear»; in sport scores «two all»; in casual talk «all good», «that's all I need!» (sarcasm: just what I did not need), «y'all»; in the exam voice «Determine the aggregate number», «in total», «collectively»
examples
- There are 4 stamps on the table and 10 stamps in the box. How many stamps are there in all? tree →
- Kim had 8 pears and ate all of them. tree →
- Raj has 3 bags of 5 shells. How many shells does he have in all? tree →
- All the children lined up at the door. tree →
- We played in the park all afternoon. tree →
- Is that all you want for lunch? tree →
- My shoes got all muddy in the rain. tree →
- All dogs need water and exercise. tree →
- The match ended two all. tree →
- y'all want 2 slices each? there's 4 of us so 8 slices tree →
- Oh great, rain on sports day, that's all we need. tree →
- Determine the aggregate number of stamps, given that 4 are situated upon the table and 10 within the box. tree →
- The Velveteen Rabbit was all alone. tree →
note
«in all» asks for the total: add the parts, or multiply equal groups; «in total», «altogether», «the aggregate» and «collectively» ask the same. Trap: «all four operations» only means every one of them, and «ate all of them» leaves zero. «all together» (everyone at once) is two words; «altogether» (in total) is one. «All» goes with plural or uncountable nouns: all the apples, all the water. «That's all we need!» said in a bad mood is sarcasm: it means a new problem, not a total. «two all» is a draw, not 2 + 2.
In the corpora
- Shops, hospitals, buses and factories need people at all hours, so their workers follow a rota that can change every week.
- Overtime is working extra hours beyond the normal ones; sometimes it is paid at a higher rate, sometimes not paid at all.
- Job hunting means searching adverts and sending applications, often dozens before getting anywhere; many get no reply at all.
- Starting a new job means learning new systems, names and rules all at once, so people come home tired.
- Moving means packing everything, doing paperwork and saying goodbye all at once, so it is very stressful.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «all» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.