• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Articles & lessons
    • Grammar & vocabulary lessons
    • IELTS preparation
    • British culture
    • All articles and lessons
  • About
  • Contact
Crown Academy of English

English lessons and resources




You are here: Home / English lessons / ALL and EVERY | Determiners

ALL and EVERY | Determiners

31st December 2016 by Andrew

All and every are determiners.

We use them both to indicate the complete amount or number of something.

The meaning is practically the same but the form is different:

“all” + “of” (optional) + “the” + plural form of noun


All of the ducks are yellow.
All the ducks are yellow.

ducks

Since we use the plural form of the noun (ducks), we must also use the plural form of the verb. In this example, we use the 3rd person plural of the verb “be” (“are”)

“every” + singular form of noun
Every duck is yellow.

Since we use the singular form of the noun (duck), we must also use the singular form of the verb. In this example, we use the 3rd person singular of the verb “be” (“is”)

More examples:

All of the cakes are chocolate cakes.
Every cake is a chocolate cake.

All of the children are happy.
Every child is happy.

Possessive adjectives

my, your, his, her, its, our, their

We may use “all” with possessive adjectives:

All of your cars are red.
All of her dresses are blue.

But we do NOT use possessive adjectives with “every“:

Every your car is red. wrong
Every her dress is blue. wrong

Demonstratives

Singular demonstratives: this, that
Plural demonstratives: these, those

We may use “all” with plural demonstratives:

All of these eggs are fresh.
All of those oranges are from Spain.

But we do NOT use demonstratives (singular or plural) with “every“:

Every these egg is fresh. wrong
Every this egg is fresh. wrong

Every those orange is from Spain. wrong
Every that orange is from Spain. wrong

Uncountable nouns

Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts, liquids that we cannot divide into separate elements. We cannot count them. Examples: milk, music, furniture, information.

We may use “all” with uncountable nouns:

The form is:

all + uncountable noun (singular)
Examples:

I drank all the water.
He gave me all the information.

We do NOT use “every” with uncountable nouns:

I drank every water. wrong
He gave me every information. wrong

English video lesson

Filed Under: English lessons

More lessons

English vocabulary: Train travel

This is a vocabulary lesson all about train travel. This will help you in English speaking situations. The important vocabulary is in … [Read More...] about English vocabulary: Train travel

Synonyms of free in English

8 ways to say that something is FREE in English

The word "free" is an adjective. Meaning: Something that you do not have to pay for. Something that costs nothing. Example: Coffee at the office … [Read More...] about 8 ways to say that something is FREE in English

Angry men

English expressions that mean “annoy someone”

If we annoy someone, we are making them feel angry. In this lesson, you will learn 5 English expressions that also mean “to annoy someone”. To hear … [Read More...] about English expressions that mean “annoy someone”

Tokyo

Giving examples in English with “SUCH AS”

We use "such as" to give a list of examples of something we say. Example: Mark: What kind of music do you like?Andrew: I like groups such as … [Read More...] about Giving examples in English with “SUCH AS”

Third conditionals in English

The third conditional describes hypothetical situations in the past. We are imagining the result of something that did not happen. We are imagining a … [Read More...] about Third conditionals in English

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. alpa says

    22nd June 2017 at 10:27 am

    Every person has his own battle in life

    All of us are very lazi and did not have checked at deadline of paying bills.
    Everyone has own choice to select options
    Every dog has its day.

    Thank you Andrew . its really helpful

Primary Sidebar

Lessons

native english speaker

How to understand native English speakers

girl reading

How to improve your English vocabulary

peas on spoon

“a little” and “a few ” to describe quantity

doctor

The difference between practice and practise

Girl wearing headphones

Difference between hear and listen

handbag

compliment or complement





Footer

Follow us on social media

Crown Academy of English on YouTube Crown Academy of English on Twitter

Privacy policy

Privacy policy

Recent

  • 8 ways to say that something is FREE in English
  • English idioms and expressions related to CRIME
  • How to use either and neither – English lesson
  • Learn English vocabulary – Vegetables
  • English Idioms related to speed

Search