All and every

These two small words are often confused. Can you keep them straight? Complete the following sentences. You can check your answers at the bottom of the page.

1. I get up at 6:00 all days / every day.
2. We have to research all / everything.
3. Did you stay for all / every of the meeting?

All and every are very similar in meaning, but they are used in different structures.

All refers to a whole and is generally used with prepositions (words like of and about). For example:

• Hannah read all of the report on her desk. (She read the whole report.)

Sentence three above is also an example of this use:

• Did you stay for all of the meeting? (the whole meeting)

Every refers to individuals as a group and is generally used with nouns (words like cat, desk, clock). For example:

• Hannah read every report on her desk. (She read each individual report in the stack.)

Sentences one and two above are also examples of this:

• I get up at 6:00 every day. (each individual day)
• We have to research everything. (each of the individual points)

Now try this quiz to check your understanding.