MNW English Grammar » Determiners » Distributives - ALL, BOTH, HALF
Distributives - ALL, BOTH, HALF
These words can be used in the following ways:
| ALL + |
1 2 3 4a 4b |
- the my, your, etc. this, that these, those |
Uncountable noun or Countable noun in the plural Uncountable noun Countable noun in the plural |
Examples | |
| 1. | All cheese contains protein All children need affection |
| 2. | All the people in the room were silent. Have you eaten all the bread? |
| 3. | I've invited all my friends to the party. I've been waiting all my life for this opportunity. |
| 4a. | Who's left all this paper on my desk? |
| 4b. | Look at all those balloons! |
| BOTH + |
1 2 3 4 |
- the my, your, etc. these, those |
Countable noun in the plural |
Example | |
| 1. | Both children were born in Italy. |
| 2. | He has crashed both (of) the cars. |
| 3. | Both (of) my parents have fair hair. |
| 4 | You can take both (of) these books back to the library. See note below |
|
HALF + |
1 2 3 4 |
a the my, your, etc. this, that, |
Uncountable or countable noun |
Example | |
| 1. | I bought half a kilo of apples yesterday. |
| 2. | You can have half (of) the cake. She gave me half (of) the apples. |
| 3. | I've already given you half (of) my money. Half (of) his books were in French. |
| 4 | Half (of) these snakes are harmless You can take half (of) this sugar. |
NOTE: All, both, half + OF: 'OF' must be added when followed by a pronoun:
All of you; both of us; half of them
It is also quite common to add it in most of the above situations except when there is no article (No.1 in all the tables above.)
Other listening lessons