by R. S. Karunaratne

Everything about 'all'

'All' is mainly used as a determiner.

All the seats are occupied.

Are you going to sell all your books?

As a determiner all comes before articles.

All the employees are on strike.

All the buses are leaving for Jaffna.

All the cinemas are closed on Poya Day.

All the shops open at 10 a.m.

All the cupboards are locked.

As a determiner all comes before possessives.

All my clothes are new.

All her shoes are black.

All his trousers are torn.

All your efforts are in vain.

All their ships are sailing to India.

As a determiner all comes before demonstratives.

All these boxes should be removed.

All those people are hungry.

As a determiner all comes before numerals.

All four books are on the table.

When all refers to a class of people or things, the is not used.

All men are mortal.

All animals have a right to live.

All buildings give us shelter.

All trees are nature's creations.

'All of' is used before personal pronouns.

All of you must help the flood victims.

All of them were remanded.

All of us were stranded in Malaysia.

'Of' may be omitted before definite noun phrases.

I deposited all my money in a savings account.

Where did you buy all this stuff?

Are you going to eat all this food?

Pay special attention to time expressions.

He ran all morning .

They spent all morning at the gymnasium.

They spent all the morning at the gym.

They spent all of the morning at the gym.

Use all before indefinite plurals.

All students wear uniforms.

All tiles are damaged.

All can be used as an unmodified pronoun in formal English.

All are safe.

All is not lost.

All can be premodified.

Almost all the shops were closed.

All can also be postmodified.

I gave him all that he wanted.

All that glitters is not gold.

All that matters is that you should be honest.

All is used as an adverb.

We all knew what was happening.

They are all qualified architects.

She was left all alone in the class.

All is common in fixed expressions.

Is it all right if I open the cupboard?

I am not at all satisfied with her work.

The following discourse markers are quite common in spoken English.

Above all, the candidates want to help the poor. (Primarily)

First of all, let me clean this place.

All right, tell me why you are a rationalist.

All the same, there are other points of view to consider.

All in all, the best student passed the exam.

As a prefix all can be used in front of certain nouns to form adjectives meaning 'every' 'every type of', or 'the whole of.'

There was an all night pirith chanting at home.

All cotton socks are sold here.

Some people believe in an all powerful god.

Here is an interesting quiz to test your word power. Tick off the correct answer and check it out with the key.

1. Raju used to be a boxing aficionado but he grew tired of it later.

(a) fan

(b) player

(c) instructor

2. With the unexpected bonanza, Sarath moved into a luxury house.

(a) sickness

(b) disaster

(c) source of wealth

3. In a display of bravado, the stranger challenged the policemen.

(a) bravery

(b) pretended courage

(c) timidity

4. The police went into the jungle to flush out the desperado.

(a) dangerous criminal

(b) prison escapee

(c) thief

5. The colourful flotilla sailed out to meet the great ocean liner.

(a) boat

(b) a small fleet

(c) sailors

6. If you keep waiting for manana, you may find that it never comes.

(a) today

(b) yesterday

(c) tomorrow

7. One of the most notorious renegades in American history is Benedict Arnold.

(a) traitors

(b) heroes

(c) robbers

8. Have an afternoon siesta, you will always feel refreshed.

(a) sleep

(b) mattress

(c) midday nap

9. I am busy right now but I'll come to see you anon.

(a) later

(b) soon

(c) tomorrow

10. You might rely on augury but I prefer to deal with facts.

(a) omen

(b) truth

(c) lie

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[Key]

1. (a), 2. (c), 3. (b), 4. (a), 5. (b), 6. (c), 7. (a), 8. (c), 9. (b), 10 (a)

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