Day 68: All is plural or singular depending on the object of all.

Subject–verb agreement isn’t difficult. However, some words can complicate this issue. All is one such word because it can be a singular or plural subject. Consider these sentences.

Plural subject:

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“ALL of us ARE at the movies.”

“ALL the books FALL to the floor.”

Singular subject:

“ALL the food IS gone.”

“ALL the music SOUNDS great.”

In each sentence, the subject is “All.” We know from previous tips that the verb needs to agree in number with the subject (i.e., must be plural or singular). As we see from these sentences, though, All can use both plural and singular verbs.

Here’s how we determine whether to use a singular or plural verb form. We ask, “All what?” If the answer to that question is a plural thing, then the verb needs to be plural. If the answer is a singular thing, then the verb needs to be singular.

Here’s how it works, using the examples above.

“ALL of us ARE at the movies.” All what? Us. “Us” is plural, so we use the plural verb.

“ALL the books FALL to the floor.” All what? Books. “Books” is plural.

“ALL the food IS gone.” All what? Food. “Food” is singular, so we use the singular verb.

“ALL the music SOUNDS great.” All what? Music. “Music” is singular.