all */*/*/

UK [ɔːl] / US [ɔl] adverb, determiner, preposition, pronoun

Summary:

All can be used in the following ways: - as a determiner (followed by an uncountable or plural noun): They had given up all hope. ♦ All children deserve encouragement. - as a predeterminer (followed by a word such as "the", "this", or "his"): I want to hear all the details. ♦ We lost all our money. - as a pronoun: All was quiet in the street outside. (before a relative clause): I've done all that I can to help her. (followed by of): I want to invite all of you. (after the subject of a sentence): These buildings all belong to the college. (following the pronoun object of a sentence): Pauline said goodbye to them all. (after a modal or auxiliary verb or the verb "to be"): We can all relax. ♦ The tickets had all been sold. - as an adverb (before an adjective, adverb, preposition, or conjunction): Bernard was all alone in a strange city. ♦ They forgot all about everything else.

1) the whole of something

a) the whole of an amount or every part of something

There's no cake left. They've eaten it all.

Have you spent all your money?

all of:

We need to make sure that all of our equipment has been checked.

b) the whole of a period of time

Sally had spent all her life working for others.

all day/night/week/year etc:

I've been awake all night worrying.

all the time (= very often or continuously):

The situation is changing all the time.

She needs to have someone looking after her all the time.

all through:

They stayed in London all through the war.

c) the whole of a group

entertainment for all the family

d) the whole of a situation or problem

You can't blame it all on David.

Good luck! I hope all goes well.

e) used in expressions for referring to every part of a place or surface

all over/around/across/along etc:

We've had messages of support from all around the world.

Oh, look, you spilt it all over the carpet.

2) every one every person or thing

We all enjoyed the party.

No one can solve all these problems.

Over 90% of all traffic accidents result from human error.

All seven astronauts were killed in the explosion.

all of:

I want all of you to listen carefully.

not all:

Not all lawyers have large incomes.

3) completely

a) used for emphasizing that something is completely true

I'm all in favour of giving children more freedom.

Now we're going to be late, and it's all because of you.

all over (= completely finished):

Divorce is a very complicated business – I'll be glad when it's all over.

b) informal used for emphasizing how strong or complete a feeling or quality is

He started to get all excited when I told him Cynthia was coming.

4) when there is nothing more used for saying that there is nothing more except what you are mentioning

Just three pounds – that's all I've got left.

All we can do is sit and wait (= we cannot do anything more).

5) when the scores are equal in a game used for showing the score in a game when each of the two players or teams has scored an equal number of points

Sampras won the next point, bringing the score to 30 all.

•

...and all — used for showing that everything or everyone else is included; spoken used for showing that you are considering the whole of a situation

Barney was in his best clothes – silk tie, diamond pin and all.

I thought we'd go for a ride, with it being nice weather and all.

all the more/better etc — even more/better etc than before

I enjoy playing tennis, and if they're willing to pay me for it – well, all the better!

all too easy/few/often etc — used for emphasizing that something is too easy/that there are too few/that something happens too often etc

It's all too easy to borrow money that you can't pay back.

be all sweetness/charm etc — used for saying that a person or situation shows a lot of a particular quality or type of behaviour

first/best/most etc of all — used for emphasizing that you mean before anything else/better than anything else/more than anything else etc

First of all, I want to welcome our guest speaker.

His music was the thing he loved most of all.

for all someone knows/cares — mainly spoken used for saying that even if something was true, a particular person would not know/care about it

He might be a murderer, for all we know.

I might as well be dead, for all you care.

in all probability/likelihood/honesty/seriousness etc — formal used for emphasizing that something is probable/likely/that you are being honest/serious etc

In all likelihood, Mr Crawford will die before his wife.

I must admit, in all honesty, that progress has not been as fast as we had hoped.

not all that good/bad/big etc= not as good/bad/big etc as all that — used for saying that something is not very good/bad/big etc

I didn't finish the book – it wasn't all that interesting.

of all things/people/places — mainly spoken used for expressing surprise that a particular thing/person/place is the one involved in something

And now she's chosen to live in Alaska, of all places!

- all at once

- all but

- all in

- all in all

- all of something

- all out

- be all there

- be not all there

- for all something

- go all out

- in all

- that's all

- that's someone all over

See:

at, go II