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). 

Position of Adverbs: General

Typical mistakes: 

Always you make the same mistake. 

Never I will understand this. 

I a couple of days ago ordered some seeds for the garden.  

Mr. Harrison on Tuesday called a meeting of the directions.

I like very much skiing.

She speaks well English. 

Verb and object

It is unusual to put adverbs between the verb and its object. These are not generally separated in an English sentence. 

She speaks English well. 

I very much like skiing (Or: I like skiing very much). 

Normal positions for adverbs

There are three normal positions for adverbs: 

 Mid-position (before the verb, or part of the verb)

He suddenly drove off. 

We have never been searched by the customs.  

End-position (at the end of a clause) 

He drove off suddenly. 

Jam arrived late. 

Initial position (at the beginning of a clause)  

 Suddenly he drove off. 

Yesterday I had a bad headache. 

Not all adverbs can go in all three of these positions. Only certain kinds of adverbs can go in initial position. Most kinds of adverb can go in both mid-position and end-position, but there are some that can only go in one or the other. See the following paragraphs for details. The exact place of mid-position adverbs depends on the verb form, and also on the kind of adverb. When several adverbs come in end-position, the order is not completely free.

Adverbs and adverb phrases 

Most adverbs can go in both mid-position and end-position. 

Do you often come here? 

Do you come here often?

I angrily walked out of the room. 

I walked angrily out of the room. 

I walked out of the room angrily. 

I don't completely agree. 

I don't agree completely. 

However, 'adverb phrases' (groups of words that function as adverbs) cannot usually go in mid-position. Compare the following: 

Mr. Donald then called a meeting of the directors. 

Mr. Donald called a meeting of the directors on Tuesday (Not: Mr. Donald on Tuesday called...). 

I recently ordered some seeds for the garden. 

I ordered some seeds for the garden a couple of days ago.  

There are a few short common adverb phrases (e.g. at once, very often) which can go in mid-position. 

I have very often wondered why people read advertisements.  

Adverbs that cannot go in mid-position

Adverbs of place do not normally go in mid-position. They generally come at the end of the clause; some of them can also come at the beginning. 

She' sitting outside. 

We drove northwards. 

Adverbs of definite time (which say exactly when something happens) do not go in mid-position. They can be put at the beginning or end of a clause. 

I met her yesterday (Not: I yesterday met her). 

Tomorrow we're leaving for Canada (Not: We're tomorrow leaving for Canada). 

 Adverbs of definite frequency (which say exactly how often something happens) do not usually go in mid-position; they are normally put at the end of a clause. 

Milk is delivered daily. 

We have meeting monthly. 

 Adverbs of indefinite time and frequency can go in mid-position. 

I've recently become interested in gardening. 

We often play bridge on Sunday nights. 

Adverbs which are used to evaluate (to say how well something is done) normally go in end-position, not mid-position. 

You've organized that well (Not: You've well organized that). 

She sings badly (Not: She badly sings). 

 But these adverbs can come before past participles in passive structures. 

It's been well designed. 

The wall was very badly built. 

Adverbs of manner (that say how something is done) can go in mid-position. 

He was happily playing with his toys. 

He was playing with his toys happily. 

 But adverbs of manner must go at the end of clauses when they give important information. Compare the following: 

She slowly opened the door and looked inside. 

The light was bad, so he drove slowly (Not: ...he slowly drove).  

Adverbs that cannot go in end-position

Some adverbs cannot usually go in end-position. 'Focusing' adverbs (which direct our attention to one part of the clause) usually go in did-position. 

I only like cowboy film. 

She was simply trying to apologize. 

My mother was particularly impressed by the dancing. 

We must also buy some gas cylinders. 

 (Adverbs like these can focus our attention on the verb, the complement, a direct or indirect object, or another adverb. Sometimes the same sentence can be understood in different ways. 

Louise only ate fish on Fridays. 

We also washed the car. 

 In the first example, the meaning may be that only fish was eaten on Friday, or that fish was eaten only Fridays. In the second example, we can understand either that something else was done (besides washing the car), or that something else was done to the car (besides washing), or that something else was washed (besides the car). Normally sentences like these are understood without difficulty because of the context and (in speech) because of the intonation and stress.)

There are a few 'focusing' adverbs which do not go in mid-position. 'Too', 'either', and 'as well' usually go at the end of a clause. 

Rady wants a bath too. 

I don't like him either. 

We'd better get some butter as well. 

 'Only' and 'even' go in initial position when they refer to the subject. 

Only George could make a mistake like that. 

Even the baby realized what was going on. 

 Some adverbs (like probably, certainly) say how certain something is to happen or to be true. These do not normally go in end-position. 'Probably', 'certainly' and 'definitely' go in mid-position. 

They've probably forgotten the time. 

I definitely saw a flash of lightning. 

'Perhaps' and 'surely' usually go in initial position. 

Perhaps we're going to have a storm. 

Surely you don't think she's beautiful. 

 Adverbs of degree (like nearly, almost, quite, hardly, scarcely) cannot go in end-position. Mid-position is normal. 

I nearly stopped and asked what he wanted. 

You can hardly expect her to smile at you after what you said. 

Adverbs that can go in initial position 

Most adverbs of time can go in initial position. 

 Yesterday I got up late. 

In January it rained all the time. 

Once I wanted to be a doctor. 

These adverbs can also go in end-position - see above. 

Some adverbs of frequency can also go in initial position. 

Occasionally I try to write poems. 

Sometimes we have parties in the garden. 

Note that, however, that 'always' and 'never' cannot go in initial position, except in imperative sentences. 

I will never understand this (Not: Never I will...). 

You always make the same mistake (Not: Always you make...). 

 Some adverbs of place can go in initial position, especially in a descriptive style. E.g. I opened the box. Inside was another box. 

'Here', 'there' and (in literary writing) other 'directional' adverbs can also go in initial position. 

Here comes your bus. 

There goes Mrs. Reagan. 

Down came the rain. 

 Some adverbs of manner can go in initial position. 

Slowly we approached the top. 

Gently she examined the child's leg. 

 'Discourse markers' (adverbs which show our attitude to what we are saying, or which connect it with what came before) often come in initial position. 

Frankly, I think she's lying. 

Actually, you're mistaken. 

Position of adjectives: general

  

Most adjective can go in two places in a sentence: 

With a noun (attributive position): 

The new secretary doesn't like me. 

She's going out with a rich businessman. 

Please send me all the tickets available. 

After be, seem, look, become and a few other verbs (predicative position): 

That dress is new, isn't it? 

S/he looks rich. 

Can you tell me if Mr. Smith is available? 

Some adjectives can only go in one of these positions (e.g. awake, elder). Some adjectives may come after the noun in attributive position (as in tickets available in the example above). One or two adjectives have different meaning in attributive and predicative positions. When several adjectives are used together, it is always easy to put them in the right order (e.g. a beautiful little old Chinese porcelain vase). There are also problems about the use of and with two or more adjectives. 

 

 

Adjectives Vs Adverbs in general

 

There are a large number of problems connected with the use of adjectives and adverbs. Most of them are explained in the following section, a few are dealt with in other parts of this blog. The problems include: 

• The difference between adjectives and adverbs, confusing cases like friendly (adjective) or cheap (adjective and adverb). 
• The use of adjectives with verbs like look, feel, taste...
• The use of adjectives without nouns (e.g. the blind)...
• The position of adjectives...
• The use of nouns as adjectives (e.g. a roof garden)...
• The order of adjective before nouns (e.g. a great big fat old tabby cat)...
• The use of and between adjectives...
• Comparison of adjectives and adverbs...
• The use of participles as adjectives...
• The position of adverbs in sentences...