FluencyLab
GrammarHub
Use all for three or more/general totality and both for exactly two, with correct placement around nouns, pronouns and auxiliaries.
Overview
Use all for three or more/general totality and both for exactly two, with correct placement around nouns, pronouns and auxiliaries.
Form and rules
Use both for two people/things and all for three or more or an entire group.
Before a noun: both students, all employees; before a determiner: both the students / all the employees.
With pronouns, use both of us/them and all of us/them.
With a simple main verb, both/all often comes before the verb: They both work here.
With be or an auxiliary, both/all usually comes after it: They are both ready; We have all finished.
A closer look
With a simple main verb, both/all often comes before the verb: They both work here.
With be or an auxiliary, both/all usually comes after it: They are both ready; We have all finished.
Examples
Both answers are correct.
All employees received an email.
Both of them live nearby.
They are both qualified.
We have all completed the training.
Common mistakes
Parents refers to exactly two people, so use both.
All comes after the auxiliary have.
Ready to practise?
The test combines multiple choice, gap completion, error correction, and sentence building so students have to recognise and produce the grammar, not simply reread the rule.