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Al or all?

al is a noun meaning “The Indian mulberry, Morinda citrifolia, especially as used to make dye”; all is a determiner meaning “Every individual or anything of the given class, with no exceptions (the noun…”. Use al as a noun and all as a determiner (all is also a noun: “Everything that one is capable of”). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) all is about 23 times as common as al.

alorall

What is the difference between al and all?

alall
Part of speechnoun, suffix, prefix, adverbdeterminer, pronoun, adverb, noun, conjunction, adjective, prefix
Meaning

The Indian mulberry, Morinda citrifolia, especially as used to make dye

Of or pertaining to. Adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to produce an adjective form. Often added to words of Latin origin, but used…

Forming nouns, especially of verbal action

Every individual or anything of the given class, with no exceptions (the noun or noun phrase denoting the class must be plural or uncountable)

Throughout the whole of (a stated period of time; generally used with units of a day or longer)

Everything

ExampleFor quotations using this term, see Citations:alAll contestants must register for the footrace: we've arranged numbers for them all
Formsalsa'
Pronunciation/æl/ /ɑːl/ /əl//ɔːl/ [oːɫ] /u(ɫ)/
In writing145 times per million words3,311 times per million words

Sources: al and all in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Every current meaning of al and all

al

  1. 1

    noun Initialism of assembly language

  2. 2

    noun The Indian mulberry, Morinda citrifolia, especially as used to make dye

    For quotations using this term, see Citations:al

  3. 3

    suffix Of or pertaining to. Adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to produce an adjective form. Often added to words of Latin origin, but used with other words also

    base + -al → basal

  4. 4

    suffix Forms the names of aldehydes

  5. 5

    noun Alfen number

  6. 6

    prefix Alternative form of all-

  7. 7

    prefix Alternative form of ad- (“to, toward”)

  8. 8

    adverb datedDated form of et al.

all

  1. 1

    determiner Every individual or anything of the given class, with no exceptions (the noun or noun phrase denoting the class must be plural or uncountable)

    All contestants must register for the footrace: we've arranged numbers for them all

  2. 2

    pronoun Everything

    Some gave all they had

  3. 3

    adverb Wholly; entirely; completely; totally

    She was sitting all alone. It suddenly went all quiet. I'm all done, Mommy! I did it all by myself

  4. 4

    noun Everything that one is capable of

    She gave her all, and collapsed at the finish line

  5. 5

    adjective All gone; dead

    The butter is all

  6. 6

    prefix Indicates complete power or authority in an area

    all- + knowing → all-knowing

  7. 7

    noun Initialism of anterolateral ligament

  8. 8

    adjective Abbreviation of mercurial

Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.

Which is more common, al or all?

al appears 145 times per million words; all 3,311 times per million words.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

The words