「すべて」という言葉について

All About the Word 'All' Accessibility links Skip to main content Skip to main Navigation Skip to Search Next Close Previous Next This image contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing. Click to reveal Print Options: Images Multimedia Embedded Content Comments Cancel Print Link has been copied to clipboard Follow Us Languages Search Search Previous Next Breaking News Ask a Teacher All About the Word 'All' March 29, 2019 All About the Word 'All' Share Share Copy link Facebook Twitter Telegram WhatsApp Email Share Share Copy link Facebook Twitter Telegram WhatsApp Email Print Ask a Teacher Embed share All About the Word "All" by VOA - Voice of America English News Embed share The code has been copied to your clipboard. The URL has been copied to your clipboard No media source currently available 0:00 0:03:46 0:00 Direct link 128 kbps | MP3 64 kbps | MP3 Pop-out player 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 singular or plural form of the verb be . I can help. You are asking about the use of "all" as a pronoun – a word that replaces a noun . "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 means 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 context 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 incorrect, 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. Dr. Jill Robbins and Alice Walker wrote this story for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. ________________________________________________________________________ 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 Do you have a question for Ask a Teacher? Write to us in the comments area and tell us your name and country. If you would like, you can also tell us one thing about yourself. Extra grammatical information: All is an indefinite pronoun. An indefinite pronoun refers to a non-specific being, object or place. The indefinite pronouns in English include all, any, both, each, every, few, many, neither, nobody and none. Some use the singular form of a verb. Others use the plural form. And others use both, depending on the noun they refer to. All About the Word 'All' Share Share Copy link Facebook Twitter Telegram WhatsApp Email Share Share Copy link Facebook Twitter Telegram WhatsApp Email Print This item is part of Lessons of the Day Ask a Teacher Related Everyday Grammar: Understanding Subject-Verb Agreement Over and Above Other, The Other and Another XS SM MD LG