Whole or All? Exercise 1
|level: Intermediate (B1/B2)
Whole and all are closely related in meaning but follow different grammatical patterns — and mixing them up is a surprisingly common mistake. This exercise gives you practice choosing between them across a range of sentence types.
Grammar review
Whole vs All
Both words express totality but work differently:
WHOLE — used with singular countable nouns; comes after the article or possessive:
Structure: article/possessive + whole + singular noun
I’ve been waiting ______ life. (my ______ life = the complete span of one’s life)
ALL — used with plural or uncountable nouns; comes before the article or possessive:
Structure: all + article/possessive + noun
She ate ______ the pizza. (every bit of it)
Key distinction:
the ______ cake (one entire cake — singular, countable) → use the singular-focused word
______ the children (every child in a group — plural) → use the quantity-focused word
Note: When the noun is singular and countable, only one of these works. When the noun is uncountable or plural, only the other works. There is rarely any ambiguity if you apply the structural rules.
Both words express totality but work differently:
WHOLE — used with singular countable nouns; comes after the article or possessive:
Structure: article/possessive + whole + singular noun
I’ve been waiting ______ life. (my ______ life = the complete span of one’s life)
ALL — used with plural or uncountable nouns; comes before the article or possessive:
Structure: all + article/possessive + noun
She ate ______ the pizza. (every bit of it)
Key distinction:
the ______ cake (one entire cake — singular, countable) → use the singular-focused word
______ the children (every child in a group — plural) → use the quantity-focused word
Note: When the noun is singular and countable, only one of these works. When the noun is uncountable or plural, only the other works. There is rarely any ambiguity if you apply the structural rules.
Choose whole or all to complete each sentence.
1. I've been waiting for you my _____ life.
a. whole
b. all
2. _____ my life I've been waiting for the perfect ESL teacher.
a. Whole
b. All
3. The storm destroyed _____ neighborhoods of the city.
a. all
b. whole
4. She spent _____ day with her new boyfriend.
a. the whole
b. all the
5. The _____ time she was in France, she never bought a baguette.
a. whole
b. all
6. He thinks that _____ the people in this city are poor.
a. whole
b. all
7. _____ town was destroyed by the tornado.
a. All
b. The whole
8. I can't believe I ate _____ salad.
a. the all
b. the whole
9. I can't believe that I ate _____ strawberries.
a. all the
b. the whole
10. I've traveled across _____ Germany.
a. all of
b. whole of
CHECK OUT OUR OTHER RELATED EXERCISES:
Whole or All? 1 (B1/B2)
Prepositions with Phrasal Verbs 1 (B1/B2)
More grammar exercises
Tired of ads? Sign up for our ad-free PREMIUM EDITION for lots of great content!
Whole or All? 1 (B1/B2)
Prepositions with Phrasal Verbs 1 (B1/B2)
More grammar exercises
Tired of ads? Sign up for our ad-free PREMIUM EDITION for lots of great content!
