כל / כל ה־ / כולם

Every All and Everyone

Level 3

כל תלמיד means every student. כל התלמידים means all the students. כולם and כולן can refer back to a group without repeating the noun.

How It Works

Every or the Whole?

כל plus an indefinite singular count noun commonly means every: כל יום, every day. With a definite singular noun it can mean the whole: כל היום, all day. With a definite plural phrase, כל התלמידים means all the students.

Agreement

Keep the predicate with the actual noun phrase: כל תלמידה קוראת; כל התלמידות קוראות. A word meaning all does not by itself require a plural verb when the head noun is singular.

Without Repeating the Noun

Use כולם for a male or mixed group and כולן for a female group: כולן בבית. Other personal forms include כולנו, all of us, and כולכם, all of you to male or mixed addressees. כולם need not mean every person in the world; its reference is the relevant group in context.

Examples (4)

  1. כל תלמיד קורא.

    Every student reads.

    The singular noun controls singular קורא.

  2. כל התלמידים קוראים.

    All the students read.

    The definite plural noun controls plural קוראים.

  3. קראתי כל היום.

    I read all day.

    The definite singular phrase means the whole day.

  4. כולן בבית.

    All of them are at home.

    כולן refers to an all-female group.

Common Mistakes

  • Using a plural present predicate with a singular every-student phrase.

    כל תלמיד קוראים.
    כל תלמיד קורא.

    The singular head תלמיד controls the singular form קורא.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

כל / כל ה־ / כולםLevel 3Every All and Everyone

Learn This First

Distinguish each item, a definite whole and a personally referred-to group.