"This all" vs "All this"

Question

HiI was writing an email to a friend when stumbled upon here. Could you please tell me if “all this” and “this all” are synonymous here?I feel so much better having shared all this with you.I feel so much better having shared this all with you.Many thanks in advance,Tom

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

The first sentence is correct. All is an adjective and "this" is a pronoun.
You can also say " I feel so much better having shared all of this with you."
In this sentence, both "all" and "this" are pronouns.
You can also omit "all" and keep the same meaning, but with less emphasis..

Yankee · Answer

Hi Tom

In my opinion, both versions are acceptable and in common use.

You might be interested in comparing the use of "all" in these sentences:

- All (of) the neighbors knew what had happened. (The omission of "of" would sound more informal to me.)
- All of them knew what had happened. (I generally would not omit "of" here, however "all this" sounds OK.)
- The neighbors all knew what had happened.
- They all knew what had happened.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Hi Yankee:
The only examples that I can find using "this all with" are a couple of set phrases, where "all" is an adverb meaning entirely, or completely.

He takes this all with a grain of salt.
You're doing this all with one hand tied behind your back.

To me, the more natural phrasing is "share all this with you"
Your other examples are good, but different syntax patterns

Yankee · Answer

Hi AlpheccaStars

I'd probably be more likely to use "all this" as well, but I definitely would not rule out the other version. To me, "this all" should be viewed as a unit -- not "this all with". Thus, we basically have "share X with you", where X = "this all".

Did you check COCA for examples of "this all"? I've taken a peek, and judging by the first page of results, usage of "this all" (similar to Tom's second sentence, but not necessarily followed by "with") seems to be decently represented.

Possibly it's something that is more commonly used in some places than in others.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

HI Yankee:
I did the search on "this all with" on COCA, and only had 9 results, including the set phrases. Then I did "all this with" and got 114 results, including a sentence almost exactly like the poster's

I shared all this with Mary, and she said she'd like to tell what happened,

Yankee · Answer

Hi AlpheccaStars

I've agreed with you that "all this" would probably be the more common wording for Tom's particular sentence, however I can't see ruling out "this all". To argue that "this all (with)" is only used occasionally with set phrases doesn't make sense to me, either. Yes, "take (something) with a grain of salt" is set idiom, but "this all" is not part of that "set" phrase. In fact, wouldn't you agree that more often than not you'll probably just see the word "it" used there? Still, it is possible to use plenty of other words there too -- even though some of those are bound to be more commonly used than others.

I don't view the very standard collocation "share (something) with someone" as being so fundamentally different from e.g. "take (something) with a grain ..." as to rule out the use of "this all" instead of "all this" -- especially in view of the fact that "this all" is in common use. I think that last point is something we agree on, right?

At the gut reaction level, Tom's second sentence simply did not cause me to think "No, that one's wrong". That's why I suggested that possibly there might be some regional differences at work here.

Verb_aTIM · Answer

Mr. TomI was writing an email to a friend when stumbled upon here. Could you please tell me if “all this” and “this all” are synonymous here?
I feel so much better having shared all this with you.
I feel so much better having shared this all with you.

Hi Tom. Happy New Year!
No Tom. "all this" and "this all" are not synonymous. Not here nor anywhere else.

The tricky thing about these phrases, is that the two words included are both adjectives and pronouns.
So, it's just a matter of taste, and not a case of grammatical conflict.

I feel so much better having shared all this with you.
I feel so much better having shared this all with you.
(adjective ) (pronoun ) (prepositional phrase)

By the way. The prepositional phrase, starting with "with", is irrelevant in this analysis.

Kindly. TIM.

Yankee · Answer

Hi Tim

As Tom used them, I would consider the two phrases to be synonymous.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Verb_aTIMI feel so much better having shared all this with you.
I feel so much better having shared this all with you.
(adjective ) (pronoun ) (prepositional phrase)

Thanks for jumping in, verbatim.
The next step was to do a syntax analysis... and I agree with you that the prepositional phrase is irrelevant, even distracting. So let's leave it out, and even simplify the sentence a bit:
I shared all this.
I shared this all.
Well, I my old ears cringe at hearing "this all" - it does not make sense to me. "this" as an adjective has to refer to something specific or concrete that is close by.
For example: I shared this story. I shared that story.
"all" used as a pronoun is a noncount word. It does not have a plural form. That's why we say, "he ate all of it", and don't say "He ate the all of it" or "He ate this all of it" or "He ate that all of it." (compare with a count noun: He ate the cookie. He ate this cookie. He ate that cookie)

We can say: He ate it all - because "all" in this sentence is an adverb (entirely, completely); Since "it" is never used as an adjective, "all" is clearly not an object of the verb "ate"..
In the example: He took this all with a grain of salt - All is not a pronoun, but again an adverb (meaning totally, completely). This is a pronoun, and object of "took".
After all is said and done, all is a funny word because it can be a pronoun, noun, adjective or adverb, as well as being in many idioms. No wonder we all get confused...and I'm not at all surprised.

"This all" vs "All this"

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