Unit 2.2
All vs Whole
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Introduction
Determiners are modifiers of nouns. They can provide a wide range of information.
All and whole refer to complete, entire things. They have similar meanings but they are used in different ways.
Form
Determiner words are put before a noun to show what the noun refers to.
Two determiners are all and whole and they have different structures.
All
The determiner all can have these structures:
- all + uncountable nouns;
- all + possessive adjectives;
- all + definite article (the).
Whole
The determiner whole can have these structures:
- possessive adjectives + whole;
- definite article (the) + whole;
- whole + plural nouns.
Example
All:
- All job information is on the leaflet.
- All my savings are in the bank.
- The general manager called all the assistants to inform them about hiring someone new.
Whole:
- My whole career is based on honesty.
- The whole crowd is here to get payment from the factory.
- Whole companies are terrified because of the financial crisis.
Use
We use:
- all with plural nouns with the meaning of every, every of;
- whole with plural nouns with the meaning of complete;
- whole and all with singular nouns referring to complete, entire things.
Summary
Determiners all and whole refer to complete, entire things. We use:
- all with plural nouns with the meaning of every, every of;
- whole with plural nouns with the meaning of complete;
- whole and all with singular nouns referring to complete, entire things.
The structure of all is: we start with the word all followed by an uncountable noun, a possesive adjective or the definite article (the).
The strucutre of whole is: we start with a posssesive adjective or the definite article (the) and the word whole.
For example:
— “Whole families participated in this school project.” = We use whole to give the meaning of entire families.
— “All families participated in this school project.” = We use all to give the meaning of every family.
♦ “Every family participated in this school project.” = We use every only with singular nouns.
NOTE: The definite article the is placed after all (namely, all the) and before whole (namely, the whole).
For example:
— “The whole teacher community went on a strike.”
— “All the teacher community went on a strike.”
In both sentences, the whole and all the refer to complete, entire things.
Let’s revise this content within the {Form} section. Take a look at the {Example} section that shows its use within a context.
Exercises
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