Distributives All Half

Distributives – all – half

Introduction


1) Distributive determiners or simply distributives refer to a group of people or things, and to individual members of the group. They show different ways of looking at the individuals within a group, and they express how something is distributed, shared, or divided.

All people want to love and to be loved.
2) The distributive determiner all is used to talk about a whole group, with a special emphasis on the fact that nothing has been left out. All can be used as a distributive in several different patterns.

All can be used with uncountable nouns and plural countable nouns by itself. In this usage, it refers to the group as a concept rather than as individuals.

All parents want the best for their children.

All can be used with uncountable nouns and plural countable nouns preceded by the or a possessive adjective. In this case, the meaning is shifted towards referring to a concrete, physical group rather than the group as a concept. In these uses, the word of can be added just after all with no change in meaning.

Have you eaten all the cookies in the jar? = Have you eaten all of the cookies in the jar?

All can be used with plural pronouns preceded by of.

All of us are going to be there tonight.

All can be used in questions and exclamations with uncountable nouns preceded by this/that or with countable nouns preceded by these/those. In these uses, the word of can be added just after all with no change in meaning.

Look at all this snow out there!
What are all these people doing in our house?





The distributive determiner half is used to talk about a whole group divided in two. Half can be used as a distributive in several different patterns.

Half can refer to measurements if it is followed by an indefinite article a/an and a noun.

I’ll be back in half an hour.

Half can be used with plural pronouns preceded by of.

Only half of us are going to be there tonight.

Half can be used with nouns preceded by the, a/an, a demonstrative, or a possessive adjective. In this case, the meaning refers to a concrete, physical division. The word of can be added just after half with no change in meaning.

Half the people have already left the party.
Putting half a kilo of sugar into the topping will ruin the cake.
I want half of that cake!
Sorry, but I used half of your eggs making breakfast today.