Whole or All? Exercise 1

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.