ALL x BOTH x EVERY x EACH

English learners invariably get confused when using these words. Still, there's no room for mistakes if the following tips are followed:



ALL: number of people or things considered as a group. It can be used with plural nouns, uncountable nouns or pronouns.
- I keep all the vegetables in the fridge.
- All my money was stolen.
- Richard hasn't seen his relatives for a while. He misses all of them.

BOTH: two people or things considered as a group. It can only be used with plural nouns or pronouns.
- Both students will have to take the exam again.
- Bob and Julia go to Germany once a year. Both of them speak German.

EVERY: number of people or things considered individually. It can be followed by singular nouns.
- Every student was given 30 minutes to finish the test.
- Every house in this neighborhood has a basement.

EACH: number of people or things considered individually too, but it expresses the idea of 'one by one'. It can be followed by singular nouns, pronouns or prepositions + plural nouns.
- Each proposal will be reviewed carefully.
- Each of the soldiers will be awarded with a medal.
- What they did was wrong. I want to talk to each of them.

Further examples:

- I gave some money to each of them.

- There's heavy traffic on the highway every single day.

- The teacher explained the topic once again to all of the students, but two students were still unsure, then she explained it to both of them after class.

You can use the following link for practice:

http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/82.html

I hope the topic is clear now. If not, leave a message by clicking on the word comments below. Bets wishes,

André