all/both/each + of and alternative constructions

all/both/each + of and alternative constructions

both

both means 'one and the other'. It takes a plural verb.

both can be used alone or followed by a noun:

 e.g. Both (doors) were open

or by (of) + the/these/those or possessives:

both (of) the wheels both (of) your wheels

or by of + us/you/them:

Both of us knew him.

A personal pronoun + both is also possible:

We both knew him. both . . . and . . . can be used to emphasize a combination of two adjectives, nouns, verbs etc.:

It was both cold and wet.

He is both an actor and a director.

He both acts and directs.

all/both/each + of and alternative constructions

A

 all (pronoun) can be followed by of + the/this/these/that/those/ possessives and proper nouns.

both (pronoun) + of can be used similarly but with plural forms only. The of here is often omitted especially with all + a singular noun/pronoun -

all the town all (of) Tom's boys

all his life both (of) the towns

all (of) these both (of) his parents

B

With all/both + of + personal pronoun the of cannot be omitted:

all of it both of them

But there is an alternative construction, personal pronoun + all/both:

all of it is replaceable by it all.

all of us = we all (subject), us all (object).

all of you is replaceable by you all.

all of them = they all (subject), them all (object).

Similarly:

both of us = we both or us both

both of you = you both

both of them = they both or them both

All of them were broken = They were all broken.

All/Both of us went = We all/both went.

We ate all/both the cakes.

We ate all/both of them.

We ate them all/both.

C

When one of these pronoun + all/both combinations is the subject of a compound tense the auxiliary verb usually precedes all/both:

We are all waiting. You must both help me.

be is also placed before all/both except when it is used in short answers etc.:

We are all/both ready but  Who is ready? ~ We are/We both are. Other auxiliaries used alone and simple tenses of ordinary verbs follow  all/both:

You all have maps. They both knew where to go.

D

 each, like both, can be followed by of + these/those etc. (plural forms only). The of here cannot be omitted:

each of the boys each of these each of us/you/them can, however, be replaced by pronoun + each;

each of you = you each

each of us = we each (subject), us each (indirect object)

each of them •= they each (subject), them each (indirect object)

We each sent in a report.

They gave us each a form to fill in. Note that each of us/you/them is singular:

Each of us has a map. But we/you/they each is plural:

We each have a map.

Verbs used with we/you/they each follow the patterns given in C above for all and both:

They have each been questioned.