THE DISTRIBUTIVES ( ALL, BOTH, HALF EACH, EVERY, EITHER, NEITHER)

THE DISTRIBUTIVES

·         ALL, BOTH, HALF

·         EACH, EVERY, EITHER, NEITHER

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.
	4	You 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.
4	Half (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.)

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EACH, EVERY, EITHER, NEITHER

These distributive words are normally used with singular nouns, and are placed before the noun.

Each, either and neither can be used with plural nouns but must be followed by 'of':

Each is a way of seeing the members of a group as individuals:

·         Each child received a present.

·         Each of the children received a present.

Every is a way of seeing a group as a series of members:

·         Every child in the world deserves affection.

It can also express different points in a series, especially with time expressions:

·         Every third morning John goes jogging.

·         This magazine is published every other week.

Either and Neither are concerned with distribution between two things - either is positive,neither is negative:

·         Which chair do you want? Either chair will do.

·         I can stay at either hotel, they are both good

·         There are two chairs here. You can take either of them.

·         Neither chair is any good, they're both too small.

·         Which chair do you want? Neither of them - they're both too small.

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OTHER, ANOTHER

These words refer to something different, remaining, or additional.

They are placed before the noun.

Another is used with singular nouns.

Other with singular or plural.

·         There are other jobs you could try.

·         Where's the other packet of cereals?

·         Is there any other bread?

·         Have another cup of tea.

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WHICH, WHAT, WHOSE

In questions, these words ask which thing or person is being referred to. They are placed before the noun.

·         Which dress are you going to wear tonight?

·         What colour is your dress?

·         Whose car are you going to use?

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WHICH AND WHOSE

In a statement, these words define or explain which thing or person is referred to:

Examples

·         He went back to the house. (Which house?) The house which stood on the corner. = He went back to the house which stood on the corner.

·         I saw the man. (Which man?) The man whose car you damaged. = I saw the manwhose car you damaged.

·          He couldn't remember which film he had seen.

·          That's the man whose wife works in my office.

·          Tell me which coffee you like.

·          The woman whose dog bit you is at the door.

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SUCH, WHAT, RATHER, QUITE

These words are normally placed before the indefinite article.

Such and what are often used to express surprise or other emotions:

Examples

·         What a lovely day!

·          She's such a lovely woman!

·         What an incredible film!

·          He's such a fantastic guitarist!

Rather and quite are 'commenting' words, referring to the degree of a particular quality. They can express disappointment, pleasure, or other emotions, and are used before a/an + adjective + noun:

Examples

·         It's rather a small car. (= I'm a bit disappointed because it's small)

·          It was quite a nice day.(= I was agreeably surprised.)

·          He's had quite a bad accident. (= I'm worried)

·          I've just met rather a nice man. (= I'm pleased)

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