Distributives – all, both, half

These words refer to a group of people or things, and to individual members of the group. They show different ways of looking at the individuals within a group, and they express how something is distributed, shared or divided.

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.
4You 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,
these, those

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.
4Half (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.)