ALL AND WHOLE

These words often have the same meaning, but they are used differently.

With the definite article

+ All comes before the definite article: All the time

+ Whole comes after the definite article: The whole time

With a possessive adjective

+ All comes before a possessive adjective: All my life

+ Whole comes after a possessive adjective: My whole life

With a singular noun

Whole can only be used after a definite article: The whole country (not 'Whole country')

With plural nouns

They have different meanings:

+ All exams were affected. = Every exam was affected.

+ Whole exams were affected. = This doesn't mean that every exam was affected, but that some were affected completely.

With uncountable nouns

We generally use all. We can say 'the whole of the' before an uncountable noun.