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Moon7296 Posted 14 years ago
Essay & Composition Writing

All that glitters is not gold/ why singular?

1. All that glitters is not gold

I thought the be verb should be are because the subject is plural.
Why the verb in #1 is singular?
  

Top answer

'All' can be countable or uncountable. Here it stands for material: All (material) that glitters is not gold. Compare: All are welcome here.

— Mister Micawber

  • 'All' can be countable or uncountable.
  • Here it stands for material: All (material) that glitters is not gold.
  • Compare: All are welcome here.
  • All is well that ends well.
  • All (of the mice) are under the table.
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1 Answers
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'All' can be countable or uncountable. Here it stands for material: All (material) that glitters is not gold.

Compare:

All are welcome here.
All is well that ends well.
All (of the mice) are under the table.
All (of the cheese) has been eaten.
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