The adverbs 全 and 全部
The adverbs 全 and 全部 both are adverbs of scope and indicate integrity. They are very similar in usage.
The adverb 全
The adverb can be stated before nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
How to use 全 before a noun
Most often we use 全 before collective nouns.
Pay attention
The collective nouns denote a group of people or things as a whole: for example, the world, a country, a family.
Examples
今天国家都过春节
The whole country celebrates Spring Festival today
jīntiān quán guójiā dōu guò chūnjié
这是我们家的照片
This is a picture of my whole family
zhè shì wǒmen quán jiā de zhàopiàn
Also 全 can be used before nouns which can be collocated with the word “all”: all day, the whole text, all my strength.
Examples
我们没有吃餐,只喝了汤
We didn't eat the whole meal, just the soup
wǒmen méiyǒu chī quán cān, zhǐ hē le tāng
Pay attention
Exception: we cannot use 全 with nouns denoting a profession or position.
To speak about an entire team or group of people we should use the word .
Examples
全体职员
all employees
quántǐ zhíyuán
全体演员
the entire cast
quántǐ yǎnyuán
How to use 全 before verbs and adjectives
When it is used before verbs or adjectives, 全 has the meaning of “completely”.
Pay attention
We usually use result complements after the combination of a verb and 全. Result complements are added to action verbs and indicate that an action led to a certain result. Result complements are usually expressed by a verb or an adjective.
Examples
我的花草死光了
My flowers and plants all died
wǒ de huācǎo quán sǐ guāng le
他的咳嗽差不多好了
His cough is almost all gone
tā de késou chàbuduō quán hǎo le
她的钱没了
She has no money left
tā de qián quán méi le
Pay attention
In the last example, 没 is the short form for .
The adverb 全部
The adverb is very similar to the word 全 in usage. It can also be used before nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
How to use 全部 before nouns
The adverb 全部 can be used with any nouns; they do not have to be collective.
Pay attention
Sometimes we should use the particle between 全部 and a noun.
Examples
我将努力回答你的全部问题
I will try to answer all your questions
wǒ jiāng nǔlì huídá nǐ de quánbù wèntí
这就是全部的理由
That's the whole reason why
zhè jiùshì quánbù de lǐyóu
When there is a predicate after the combination of a noun with 全部, we should also use the word .
Scheme
全部
noun
predicate
verb/adjective
Examples
大楼里的全部人员获救了
All the people in the building were rescued
dàlóu lǐ de quánbù rényuán dōu huòjiù le
她把全部精力投入到工作中去了
She puts all her energy into her work
tā bǎ quánbù jīnglì dōu tóurù dào gōngzuò zhōng qù le
How to use 全部 before verbs and adjectives
When 全部 comes before verbs and adjectives, it is used in the same way as 全.
Examples
他竟要我全部重写
He asked me to completely rewrite it
tā jìng yào wǒ quánbù chóng xiě
他的朋友把花生全部吃光了
His friend ate all of the peanuts
tā de péngyou bǎ huāshēng quánbù chīguāng le
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