Hi again. Adam here. www.engvid.com. I have
another lesson for you today. This is actually a request by Feresque -- Feresser? I hope
I'm saying it right. Sorry about that. It was in the comments section of www.engvid.com.
Please leave questions and comments and requests and we'll do our best to get them for you.
So the request was: the difference between "all" and "whole". Now, the reason I also
chose this lesson is because this is a very common mistake that students make. They mix
these two up all the time. They have very specific roles in situations. We're going
to look at them today. The first and most important thing to remember
about "all" versus "whole" is where to put the definite article "the". So it's always
"all the" whatever you're talking about, "the whole" whatever you're talking about, so always
"the" after "all", "the" before "whole". Now, they sound a little bit similar, "all", "whole",
but not. Right? So be careful about pronunciation. Sometimes people might think you're mixing
them up just because of pronunciation: "all", "whole". Make sure you get that "H" sound
and that "O" sound together. Now, what's the difference between "all" and
"whole"? "All", you're talking about "everything". Whatever it is you're talking about, you're
talking about all of it, basically: everything, one, etc. When you're talking about "whole",
you're talking about a "complete" something: a complete package, a complete group, a complete
container of something, right? Whatever it is you're talking about, it has to be complete,
right? It has pieces inside, and then the whole is the complete collection of whatever
it is you're talking about, whereas "all" is just everything that's involved with that
noun, etc. So I'm going to give you a very quick example: You're sitting -- your friend
went on a trip out of town. He had to take the bus for two hours to his friend's house
in Montreal, let's say. He comes back. You ask him "How was the trip?", and he goes,
"Oh, my God, there was a baby on the bus, and the baby cried all the time." But if he
said, "The baby cried the whole time", do you think that it's a different meaning? Usually
people will understand the same thing, but technically, "all the time" doesn't mean two
hours crying. It means "cried, stopped, cried, stopped, cried, stopped." It seemed like he
was crying throughout the trip, okay? But if somebody said, "The baby cried the whole
time", I understand "two hours, baby crying, wah, wah, wah, two hours." It could drive
a person crazy. "All the time" -- he cried enough times that it seemed like a long time.
"The whole time" means for two hours straight, non-stop. Okay. So that's a big difference
between "all" and "whole", okay? "The whole time", I'm talking about the specific duration,
the complete journey, two hours. "All the time" - always: always crying, stopping. Always
crying, stopping, crying, stopping, crying, stopping. Not very much fun. But, "I studied
all day" -- I have a test tomorrow; I studied all day. "I studied the whole day." In this
case, I would understand the exact same thing as well. You can switch these two. But "all
day" means, "I studied. I took a break. I studied. I didn't do anything else -- only
studied today." But "I studied the whole day" means "I sat at my desk, and I studied; I
didn't stop." So that's one of the big differences between "all" and "whole". "Whole" we're talking
about time, non-stop, continuous. "All" means in that day, many times, and that's basically
-- you did -- that's the one activity that you did, okay? So this is one aspect of "all"
and "whole". "The" and duration, like, "always" and the "complete" time of whatever it is
you're talking about. We're going to look at a couple of other differences that are
very important that you need to keep in mind. Okay, so now we're going to look at a few
other differences that are sometimes very small but important. So let's look at the
two examples here first: "All my friends came." "My whole group of friends came." What do
you notice first about the differences between these two? One, the possessive adjective -- my,
his, your, etc. -- with "all" comes after "all" -- comes before "whole": "My whole group
of friends came." So I can say "all my friends", all individual friends, right? But remember
what I said about "whole". "Whole" means something complete, a complete package of something.
So I have "group of friends" came. The meaning is more or less the same, okay? But here I
talk about the group; here I talk about the individuals. Very important to remember. But
most important -- possessive, after "all", before "whole", okay? That's one.
Let's look at another thing. Sometimes you can interchange the two words. The sentence
looks exactly the same, but the meaning is very different, okay? "All cities were destroyed."
So let's say for example there was an earthquake or a volcano eruption in Hawaii, okay? In
Hawaii there's -- there are many cities. Volcano erupted; lava flowed; earth shook; etc. "All
cities were destroyed." But if I say, "Whole cities were destroyed", the meaning is very
different. Here, "All cities were destroyed" means no more cities. Every city -- destroyed.
But if I say "whole cities", it means some cities were completely destroyed, okay? I
put marker on myself, sorry. "Whole cities destroyed" means "one city, completely destroyed,
but there are other cities that are okay." This one -- no more cities; all flat, all
covered in lava. Okay, so that's one other thing.
With "all", when you're talking about non-countable nouns -- money, water, air, sugar, milk, non-countable
nouns -- you're usually going to use "all". You're not going to say "whole the money"
because it doesn't make any sense because it's not a complete thing. It's a singular,
non-countable. "All the money was stolen. All the water was drunk", or spilled or whatever
the thing is. And you're not going -- and you're usually going to use "whole" with a
singular, countable noun. You prefer to use "whole" than "all" but it depends on the situation.
Now, some people are going to ask me in the comments section -- but now they won't because
I'll give you the answer right now -- why don't I say "all of my friends"? Why don't
I say it? Because I don't need to, okay? This is an extra word. You don't need to use it.
The only time you need to use "all of" is with an object pronoun -- all of them, all
of it, all of us, all of whom -- with a clause, etc. Otherwise, you just don't need "of".
It's a useless word. It doesn't help. It doesn't do anything. If I say "the whole of", it's
also the exact same. I don't need to use it. It means "the complete package". So that's
another difference. The last one, and this is very, very important
especially for those of you who are going to be taking tests and grammar is important:
"All students need to come to class early tomorrow." "The whole class needs to come
early tomorrow." Can you see the difference? Main thing to remember: with "all" and plural,
you have the matching verb, students "need". Remember with "whole" you have a complete
package, one package. The whole class "needs to", singular with the "S", plural without
the "S", okay? So now you see all the differences between
"all" and "whole", and I know that students are going to tell me, "I studied the whole
time" or "I study all -- whole the time", that's what I hear often, "I study whole the
time, but I don't improve." Now you will improve. I hope, anyway. Go to www.engvid.com. Take
the quiz. Practice a little bit more. If you have any questions or comments, write them
in the comments. Also check out my video on www.youtube.com. Subscribe to my channel.
It would be very nice of you, and I will see you again very soon. Thanks.
