all/whole
all用來修飾由同部分組成的集合體時，all所強調的是構成整體的各個部分，而whole側重於把事物看成一個整體。試比較：
all the city與the whole city
all my life與my whole life
all the staff與the whole staff
由於all與whole在詞義上的這種差別，所以下列可數名詞只能跟whole搭配：
the whole life/plan/system/scheme/situation/truth/distance
這就是說the whole situation是一個固定搭配。而下列可數名詞則常常跟all搭配：
all day/week/month/year/spring/winter/way
還有一種說法，all雖可與可數名詞單數連用，但all出現在單數可數名詞之前顯得有些正式，因而它常常被whole所代替，例如：
His action was condemned by all the civilized world. ---His action was condemned by the whole civilized world.
all和whole在名詞短語中的位置是不同的，all必須放在定冠詞the或物主代詞(his,my)之前，而whole必須放在定冠詞或物主代詞之後，緊放在所修飾的名詞這前：
1. I waited all the week for him to answer.
I waited the whole week for him to answer.
2. He has worked hard all his life.
He has worked hard his whole life.