All / every / each / whole

every and each take a singular noun and a singular verb — even though the meaning is “all”. all takes a plural noun (or an uncountable one).

• Every student in my class has a laptop.

• All the students in my class have a laptop.

  all + plural

• Each ticket costs 100,000 dong.

💡Because every means “all”, learners often write “every students”. Remember: after every / each the noun is always singular, and so is the verb: Every student has…, Each of them is…

Often both are possible (each time / every time), but the feeling and the patterns are different:

• The teacher spoke to each student separately.

• Every seat on the bus was taken.

  the whole group

• She had a bag in each hand.

  two hands → each, not every

• There's a bus every fifteen minutes.

  how often → every

• I've read every one of her books.

  not: every of

• Each of them got a small present.

each can also come after a noun, after the subject, or at the end: The mangoes are 20,000 dong each (= for one mango). We each got a present (= every one of us).

• every day / every morning / every week = again and again, on each day / morning / week — it tells you how often.
• all day / all morning / all week = the complete day / morning / week, from start to finish. We usually say all day, without the.
• the whole day / the whole morning = all day / all morning.
• all the time = always, non-stop; every time = on each occasion.

• My dad reads the news every morning.

• It rained all morning, so we stayed inside.

• I worked the whole day without a break.

  = all day

• She's on her phone all the time.

• Every time I call him, he's busy.

💡“All day” and “every day” are very different: I studied all day = from morning to night on one day; I study every day = on each day. Don't say “all days” when you mean every day.

whole = complete, entire. Use it with a singular countable noun, with the / my / a… before it: the whole book, my whole life, a whole pizza. With uncountable nouns we normally use all, not whole: all the money, all the information. Watch the word order: the whole (the comes first) but all the (the comes after).

• I ate the whole pizza by myself.

• She has lived in Hoi An her whole life.

• Did you spend all the money I gave you?

  not: the whole money

• The whole class laughed at his joke.

For “every person” and “every thing”, use everyone / everybody / everything with a singular verb. We don't usually use all on its own like this: say Everyone was happy, not “All were happy”; He knows everything, not “He knows all”. But all + clause = “the only thing”: All I want is…

• Everyone is waiting for you outside.

• Everything was perfect at the wedding.

• Everybody brought their own food.

  everybody is singular, but we use their

• All I want right now is a cold drink.

  all = the only thing

everyone (one word) = every person. every one (two words) = each single one of a group already mentioned: I tried on five dresses, and every one was too small.

• ✗Every students must bring a pen.

  ✓Every student must bring a pen.

  every + singular noun.

• ✗Everyone are waiting outside.

  ✓Everyone is waiting outside.

  everyone → singular verb.

• ✗It rained the all day.

  ✓It rained all day. / It rained the whole day.

  all day has no the; the goes before whole.

• ✗We spent whole weekend at the beach.

  ✓We spent the whole weekend at the beach.

  whole needs the / my… before it.

• ✗I go swimming all days.

  ✓I go swimming every day.

  How often → every day.

• ✗Every of my sisters has a bike.

  ✓Each of my sisters has a bike. / Every one of my sisters has a bike.

  every can't go directly before of.