All or whole?

We use the whole or the whole of to refer to complete single things and events that are countable and defined:

The whole performance was disappointing from start to finish. (or The whole of the performance was disappointing …)

When we can split up a thing into parts, we can use either whole or all with the same meaning:

You don’t have to pay the whole (of the) bill at once.

You don’t have to pay all (of) the bill at once.

She ate the whole orange.

She ate all of the orange.

We often use the whole of with periods of time to emphasise duration:

We spent the whole (of the) summer at the beach.

We use all the and not the whole with uncountable nouns:

She was given all the advice she needed.

Not: She was given the whole advice …

All the equipment is supplied.

We usually use all the and all of the with plural nouns:

It’s funny when all the actors come in dressed up in their costumes.

She opens all the cupboard doors and doesn’t close them after her.

You have to try all of the activities.

When we use whole with plural nouns, it means ‘complete’ or ‘entire’.

• We don’t use all before a and an:

She ate a whole bar of chocolate in one go.

Not: She ate all a bar …

• We can’t omit the before whole with a singular noun:

We travelled throughout the whole country.

Not: … throughout whole country.