All means ‘every one’, ‘the complete number or amount’ or ‘the whole’. We use it most often as a determiner. We can use a countable noun or an uncountable noun after it: … When all refers to a whole class of people or things, we don’t use the: …
the whole of (used in referring to quantity, extent, or duration): all the cake; all the way; all year. the whole number of (used in referring to individuals or particulars, taken collectively): all students.
You use all to refer to a situation or to life in general. All is silent on the island now. As you'll have read in our news pages, all has not been well of late.
When you talk about all of one thing, you mean the whole thing. When Shakespeare writes, in As You Like It, “ All the world's a stage,” he means the whole world.
When 'all' is a pronoun, it can come with both singular and plural nouns. When 'all' refers to a group of people/things as a unified whole, it comes with a singular verb, but when 'all' refers to multiple groups of items, objects, people, etc. it must be accompanied by a plural verb.
Discover everything about the word "ALL" in English: meanings, translations, synonyms, pronunciations, examples, and grammar insights - all in one comprehensive guide.