Explanation
Use "all" when you mean every part of a group or amount. Use "whole" when you mean one complete thing or one complete period of time.
In "I spent the whole afternoon at home," "I" is the subject, "spent" is the past verb, and "the whole afternoon" means the full afternoon. "The" points to one specific afternoon, and "whole" says it was complete. Japanese often says "午後ずっと" or "一日中," but English must choose the noun pattern carefully. With "all," remember that it usually goes with plural nouns or uncountable nouns, like "all the shops" or "all the water."
「all」は、集まりや量の全部を言うときに使います。「whole」は、1つのまとまったものや、1つの時間全体を言うときに使います。
たとえば "I spent the whole afternoon at home." では、"I" が主語、"spent" が過去の動詞、"the whole afternoon" が「午後まるごと」を表します。"the" は特定の午後を指し、"whole" はそれが全部そろっている感じを出します。日本語では「午後ずっと」「一日中」と言えますが、英語では名詞の形をはっきり選ぶ必要があります。"all" はふつう複数名詞か不可算名詞といっしょに使い、"all the shops" や "all the water" のように言います。
Examples
- My whole family came to dinner. 家族みんなが夕食に来ました。
- All the shops are closed today. 今日はお店が全部閉まっています。
- I spent the whole afternoon at home. 午後ずっと家にいました。
- Did you read the whole book? その本を全部読みましたか。
- She did not eat all the rice. 彼女はご飯を全部食べませんでした。
- All of the children were tired after the trip. 子どもたちは全員旅行のあと疲れていました。
Common Mistakes
Japanese learners often drop the article with "whole": "I watched whole movie" -> "I watched the whole movie." They also sometimes use "all" with a singular noun: "all student" -> "all students" or "all the students."
日本人学習者は "whole" の前の冠詞を落としやすいです。たとえば "I watched whole movie" は誤りで、正しくは "I watched the whole movie." また、"all" を単数名詞につなげてしまうこともあります。"all student" ではなく、"all students" や "all the students" と言います。