Distributives

Distributives determiners or simply distributives refer to a group of people or things, and to individual members of the group. They show different ways of looking at the individuals within a group, and they express how something is distributed, shared, or divided.

All people want to love and to be loved

Distributive All#

The distributive determiner all is used to talk about a whole group, with a special emphasis on the fact that nothing has been left out.

All can be used with uncountable nouns and plural countable nouns by itself. In this usage, it refers to the group as a concept rather than as individuals.

All parents want the best for their children

All can be used with uncountable nouns and plural countable nouns preceded by the or a possesive adjective. In these uses, the word of can be added just after all with no change in meaning.

Have you eaten all the cookies in the jar? = Have you eaten all of the cookies in the jar?

All can be used with plural pronouns preceded by of.

All of us are going to be there tonight

All can be used in questions and exclamations with uncountable nouns preceded by this/that or with countable nouns preceded by these/those. In these uses, the word of can be added just after all with no change in meaning.

Look at all this snow out there!

What are all these people doing in our house?

Distributive Half#

The distributive determiner half is used to talk about a whole group divided in two. Half can be used as a distributive in several different patterns.

Half can refer to measurements if it is followed by an indefinite article a/an and a noun.

I'll be back in half an hour

Half can be used with plural pronouns preceded by of.

Only half of us are going to be there tonight

Half can be used with nouns preceded by the, a/an, a demonstratives, or a possesive adjective. In this case, the meaning refers to a concrete, physical division. The word of can be added just after half with no change in meaning.

Half the people have already left the party

Putting half a kilo of sugar into the topping will ruin the cake

I want half of that cake!

Sorry, but I used half of your eggs making breakfast today

Guided Practice#

• .................... students are sleep deprived during the finals.

• Look at .................... these cute puppies! I want to adopt one!

• Sarah always runs .................... mile in the morning.

• I need to get rid of .................... my clothes. They are too small for me.

• .................... them were invited to the party.
• .................... them were invited to the party.

Short Story using Distributives#

-Are all of you going to the party tonight?

-No, I think only half of us are going. Not all of us have free time in the evenings.

-But all of our staff are going to be there. I think it would be nice to celebrate Halloween all together. Think of all the fun stuff we could do!

-Yeah, but half of our employees are married and have kids. It's tough to find time for things like that.

Independent Practice#

Find mistakes in the following sentences.

1. My dad usually runs half miles a day.
2. All parents want his kids to be happy.
3. Think of all money that went into the preparation!
4. Half of the students was present today.
5. Look at this cute shoes! I want to buy them!

Match the sentences.