All und alle - what's the difference?
I heard the following sentence in an episode of "24":
Wenn sie nicht zurück ist, bis ich da bin, rufen wir all ihre Freunde an, alle die wir kennen, bis wir wissen wo sie steckt.
Is their a rule for using "all" and "alle"? Could the speaker also have said, "... rufen wir alle ihre Freunde an, all die wir kennen"?
Danke im Voraus!
Search from various English teachers...
Answers · 3
4
"all" is a short form of "alle". There is no difference in meaning. In general, one can use both, but usually "all" is only used if it produces a more pleasant rhythm. It's also more frequently used in older texts, or in fixed expressions like "all ihre", "all seine" etc.
So "alle ihre Freunde, all die ..." is not wrong, but sounds a bit strange.
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