22 All vs Every

All and Every are words both used to make generalizations about a group of people or things.

They are used with different forms of verbs and nouns:

All: A complete group - plural nouns.

Every: Individual pieces/member of a group - singular nouns.

• All children get vaccinated.
  Every child gets vaccinated.

• All people need medical insurance.
  Every person needs medical insurance.

• All surgeons here are very successful!
  Every surgeon here is very successful!

We use All and Every to talk about the total number of things, animals or people.

All:

• Refers to a complete group and needs a plural noun and verb form;
• Can be used with uncountable nouns and with determiners;

Every:

• Refers to individual parts/members of a group, speaking generally about the group, and it needs a singular noun and a singular verb form;
• Cannot be used with uncountable nouns and normally cannot be used with determiners.

We can use both All and Every to talk generally about a group of people or things. However, the type of nouns and verbs we can use with each one are different. All is used with plural nouns and plural verb forms and can be used with uncountable nouns and with determiners. Every, however, can only be used with singular nouns and singular verb forms but cannot be used with uncountable nouns and with determiners.

For example:
— “All students are silent during the exam.” = “Students” is a plural noun and when it is used with All it refers to a complete group.
— “Every student is silent during the exam.” = “Student” is a singular noun and when it is used with Every it refers to individuals.

Let’s revise this content within the [Form] section. Take a look at the [Example] section that shows its use within a context.