VOA慢速英语2019--All About the Word 'All'

 

Today’s Ask a Teacher is all about the word “all,” thanks to a question from our reader Ibrahim O.

He asks:

Question: What is the proper use of is and are? If I say, "All is empty" or "All are empty," which one is correct?

Answer:

Hello, Ibrahim!

It sounds like you want to know whether "all" goes with the singular¹ or plural² form of the verb³ be. I can help.

You are asking about the use of "all" as a pronoun⁴ – a word that replaces a noun⁵. "All" is used in a few different ways.

The Cambridge Dictionary says the pronoun "all" can mean "every one (of), or the complete amount or number (of), or the whole (of)." It can also mean "the only thing."

Let's look at examples of each meaning.

Every one of

Let's say you are talking about a local football team.

Have you seen the Lions football players this season? All are in top form.

You're talking about every member of the team in this sentence, so you should use the plural form of be, "are."

The whole amount

Next, imagine your friend calls you and asks about your new job.

All is well at work these days.

This sentence means⁶ that everything at work is going well. You use the singular form of be, "is."

The only thing

Finally, let’s look at how "all" can mean "the only thing," as in these examples:

All I know is that the train is late. I don’t know why.

All I want is to be alone.

Notice that, in these examples, the be verb is in the singular form, "is."

Look at the context⁷

Our reader Ibrahim asked about these two sentences: "All is empty" and "All are empty."

The simple answer is this: "All are empty" can be correct, depending on the context. "All is empty" is not incorrect⁸, but it is not very common. You might read it in literature or poetry.

Let's say I see you with a container of plastic water bottles. I might ask, "Can I have a bottle of water?" But the bottles are empty. You could answer,

All the bottles are empty.

In this example, you are thinking about every single bottle in the container.

In a story, you might read,

The town is quiet. No cars or people are on the street. All is empty.

In the above sentence, the writer is thinking of the town as a whole.

Here's a rule to remember:

If all refers to everything as one whole, then use "is."

If all refers to every person or thing in a group, then use "are."

I hope this helps you to use "all!"

And that’s Ask a Teacher!

I’m Jill Robbins.

Words in This Story

proper - adj. (grammar) exactly correct

singular - adj. (grammar) showing or indicating no more than one person or thing

plural - adj. (grammar) showing or indicating more than one person or thing

noun - n. a word that is the name of something (such as a person, animal, place, thing, quality, idea, or action) and is typically used in a sentence as subject or object of a verb or as object of a preposition

1 singular   

adj.个人的，单数的，独一的，唯一的，非凡的；n.单数

参考例句：

• The young man has a singular ear for music.这个年轻人对音乐有非凡的欣赏力。
• The noun is in the singular.这个名词是单数形式。

2 plural   

n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的

参考例句：

• Most plural nouns in English end in's '.英语的复数名词多以s结尾。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。

3 verb   

n.[语]动词

参考例句：

• The sentence is formed from a verb and two nouns.这句子由一个动词和两个名词构成。
• These are the finite forms of a verb.这些是一个动词的限定形式。

4 pronoun   

n.代词

参考例句：

• The relative pronoun is often dropped if it is the subject.关系代名词做受词时常被省略。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。

5 noun   

n.名词

参考例句：

• What kind of noun is this?这是哪类名词？
• This word is a collective noun.这个词是个集体名词。

6 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

7 context   

n.背景，环境，上下文，语境

参考例句：

• You can always tell the meaning of a word from its context.你常可以从上下文中猜出词义来。
• This sentence does not seem to connect with the context.这个句子似乎与上下文脱节。

8 incorrect   

adj.不正确的，错误的

参考例句：

• Your answer is incorrect.你的回答不正确。
• The method is incorrect.方法不对头。