All, every and whole

This lesson explains the differences between all, every and whole and shows how to use each correctly in sentences. These words all express totality but follow different grammatical patterns.

• All is used with plural countable nouns or uncountable nouns to indicate the total quantity.
• Every is used with singular countable nouns to emphasize each individual item in a group.
• Whole emphasizes the entirety of a single unit and often needs the (the whole + noun) or whole + noun depending on context.

Pick all, every or whole based on whether the noun is singular/plural/uncountable and on what you want to emphasize.

• Use every + singular countable noun to speak about each individual item (Every employee, every report).
• Use all + plural countable nouns or uncountable nouns to refer to the total (All employees, all data).
• Use whole with a singular noun to emphasize the entirety of one unit (the whole team, the whole document).

Remember: every = each (singular). All = the total (plural or uncountable). Whole = entirety of one unit.

Watch out for these universal errors when using all, every and whole.

• Using every with a plural noun (incorrect: Every employees) — every requires a singular noun.
• Using all with a singular countable noun without an article when whole is needed (incorrect: All the report) — use the whole report.
• Confusing uncountable nouns: use all (not every) with uncountable nouns (All information, not Every information).
• Mixing pronoun forms: every one (two words) is different from everyone (one word) and all of + pronoun requires the correct form (All of them).

Always check whether the noun is singular, plural or uncountable before choosing the word.