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Each and every - Rules and exercises for intermediate level

Thursday, 29 September 2016
Each/every shop had a display in the window. Each/every shop had a display in the window. This image by gratisography.com is licensed under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license

This is an overview of the rules for using each and every with exercises that will help intermediate students to get it right, each and every time. Use this online lesson to learn and practise the use of 'each and every' in English.

Each and every: forms and uses

Each and every are single quantifiers and can be used to mean 'all'. They can have very similar meanings:

Each/every shop had a display in the window = all the shops had a display in the window.

But each and every also have different uses and rules and cannot always be used interchangeably.

Forms and uses of each

Each is used when we see the people in a group as individuals:

Each child had a coat.

It can also be used for two people or things:

There were two boys, each had a coat.

Each can also be used as a pronoun and as an adverb:

Pronoun: Your coats are hanging on the pegs, please take one each.

Adverb: The children each wore their coats to go home.

Use 'each of' + object pronoun (you, them etc) or + a determiner (the, this etc)+ plural pronoun or noun:

Each of you needs to take your coat.

Each of the children wore a coat.

 

 Forms and uses of every

We use every to generalise about all the members of a group of three or more and always follow it with a noun:

Every plant needed watering.

Every is used to talk about how often we do something:

Every day I water the plants.

My husband gives me a new plant as a present every Christmas.

Every can be used with abstract nouns:

You have every reason to be pleased about your beautiful plants!

Every can be used with a singular noun:

Every plant in my garden needs watering.

 

Each and every, be careful!

Use 'every one' like 'each of':

Every one of my plants flowers because I water them = = each of my plants flowers because I water them

Everyone, everything, everywhere and everybody are indefinite pronouns and are always written as one word. We use them to talk about a total number of people, places and things and they are always used with singular verbs:

Everyone loves my garden.

Everything in my garden looks lovely.

Everywhere you look in my garden there are flowers.

 

Never use a determiner with each and every:

(The) Each boy had a coat

Only 'every' can be modified with an adverb: Nearly every plant needs watering daily

Never add an -s to everyone, everything, everywhere and everybody.

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Last modified on Sunday, 05 February 2017 22:57

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