All: Details

The exact rules for the use of 'All' are quite complicated: 

1. All (of) before nouns and pronouns 

In general, 'all' and 'all of' are both possible before a noun, and before 'this' and 'that'. However, if the noun is used alone (without an article, possessive, or other 'determiner'), 'all of' is not usually possible. Compare the following: 

All (of) my friends like riding. 

I've read all (of) the books you lent me. 

I stopped believing in all (of) that years ago. 

All children can be naughty sometimes (Not: All of children...). 

All whisky is expensive (Not: All of whisky...). 

On the other hand, before a personal pronoun only 'all of' is possible; it is used with object pronouns (us, you, them). 

All of them enjoyed the party (Not: All them... or All they...). 

All of you are wrong (Not: All you...). 

They invited all of us (Not: ...all us). 

2. 'All' after nouns and pronouns 

'All' can go after the subject of the sentence. Note that it does not always immediately follow the subject in this case. The exact position is the same as the position of mid-position adverbs: that is to say, (i) before a simple one-word verb; (ii) if there are auxiliary verbs, after the first auxiliary; (iii) after the verb 'be'. 

My friends all like riding. 

They would all have been invited if there had been room (Not: They all would have been invited...). 

We are all tired (Not: We all are tired). 

'All' can also go after a direct or indirect object, but only if this is a personal pronoun (us, you, etc). 

I've eaten them all (Not: I've eaten the cakes all). 

Love you all (Not: Love to the family all). 

I sent them all presents. 

Note that 'all' cannot be used after a subject complement: you can say I've finished it all but not 'This is it all'. 

3. 'All' as subject, object or complement 

'All' can be used as the subject, object or complement of a sentence. In modern English, this is only common when 'all' is followed by a relative clause. Note the two possible meanings of 'all' in this case: 'everything' and 'the only thing(s)'. 

All that I own is yours.     All I want is a room somewhere. 

I'll give you all you want.     This all I've got. 

'All' is not often used to mean 'everybody', except in a very formal style. Instead of 'All who want tickets should go to the office', we would probably say 'All those who want tickets...' or 'All the people who want tickets...' 

In older English, 'all' could be used alone, without a relative clause, to mean 'everything' or 'everybody' (e.g. Tell me all. All is lost. All are dead). This is unusual in modern English, except in dramatic contexts like newspaper headlines (e.g. SPY TELLS ALL), and in the expression 'all about' (e.g. I know all about you. Let's forget all about it). 

4. It is not very common to use 'all' as the subject of a negative verb (e.g. All English people don't like fish and chips). Instead of this, we more often use 'not all' as the subject. 

Not all birds can fly. 

No birds can play chess. 

5. It is sometimes possible to leave out an article after 'all' (e.g. all day, all three brothers).