Every and all

Every and all often have the same meaning, but sentences using them are formed differently.

Compare these sentences:

• "Every house in the street has a swimming pool."
• "All the houses in the street have a swimming pool."

• "Emily has read every book in the house."
• "Emily has read all the books in the house."

The difference is that every is used with a singular noun, while all is followed by "the" and a plural noun.

We do not use all to mean "everybody/everyone":
• "All came to the meeting."

We say "all of us", not "every one of us":
• "All of us were at the meeting."

Compare these sentences:
• "I go jogging every day (jeden Tag)."
• "My colleague seems to eat sweets all day (den ganzen Tag)."

Now try the exercise on the next page.

Dagmar Taylor