for the whole week vs all week (2025)

Junwei Guo

Banned

Taiwan

Chinese

  • Jul 4, 2018
  • #1

Here's a sentence:
"We were in the mountains the whole week, until a bear attacked our camp."
Can I change "the whole week" to "for the whole week" or "all week"?
If so, what's the difference?
Thanks=)

Last edited:

  • E

    Edinburgher

    Senior Member

    Scotland

    German/English bilingual

    • Jul 4, 2018
    • #2

    Yes. "The whole week" is just an abbreviation of "for the whole week".
    "All week" also means the same, but is a little more likely to be said when the week in question is not quite over yet, or has only recently ended.
    The other versions are a little more likely to be used when talking about it much later.

    Last edited:

    Uncle Jack

    Senior Member

    Cumbria, UK

    British English

    • Jul 4, 2018
    • #3

    There is a problem using "the whole" (and, to a slightly lesser extent "all") with "until". "The whole" suggests an extended period of time, you weren't just there for a week, but for the "whole week", and nothing cut it short. But then using "until" suggests it was truncated after all.

    However, if you omit the bit about the bear, there is very little (if any) difference in meaning between the three expressions. I agree with Edinburgher's comment about usage.

    Junwei Guo

    Banned

    Taiwan

    Chinese

    • Jul 5, 2018
    • #4

    Thanks both for the detailed explanation
    Can I say "the entire week" for "the whole week"?
    If so, there is no difference, right?
    Thanks=)

    sound shift

    Senior Member

    Derby (central England)

    English - England

    • Jul 5, 2018
    • #5

    Yes, you could say "the entire week" instead of "the whole week".

    Junwei Guo

    Banned

    Taiwan

    Chinese

    • Jul 5, 2018
    • #6

    sound shift said:

    Yes, you could say "the entire week" instead of "the whole week".

    Thanks=)
    When we talk about it much later, as Edinburgher said, "the whole week" is a little more likely to be used.
    Does the same also go for "the entire week"?

    Uncle Jack

    Senior Member

    Cumbria, UK

    British English

    • Jul 5, 2018
    • #7

    Junwei Guo said:

    Thanks=)
    When we talk about it much later, as Edinburgher said, "the whole week" is a little more likely to be used.
    Does the same also go for "the entire week"?

    Yes, compared with "all week".

    Junwei Guo

    Banned

    Taiwan

    Chinese

    • Jul 6, 2018
    • #8

    Edinburgher said:

    Yes. "The whole week" is just an abbreviation of "for the whole week".
    "All week" also means the same, but is a little more likely to be said when the week in question is not quite over yet, or has only recently ended.
    The other versions are a little more likely to be used when talking about it much later.

    "We have been in the mountains _____." (the week is not quite over yet)
    A) all week B) the whole week
    So in the sentence both are ok, but A is more natural, right?
    Thanks=)

    Junwei Guo

    Banned

    Taiwan

    Chinese

    • Jul 6, 2018
    • #9

    Uncle Jack said:

    Yes, compared with "all week".

    I wanted to know if "the

    whole/entire

    morning" and "all morning" also have the difference. Thanks=)

    Uncle Jack

    Senior Member

    Cumbria, UK

    British English

    • Jul 6, 2018
    • #10

    Junwei Guo said:

    "We have been in the mountains _____." (the week is not quite over yet)
    A) all week B) the whole week
    So in the sentence both are ok, but A is more natural, right?
    Thanks=)

    Yes.

    Junwei Guo said:

    I wanted to know if "the

    whole/entire

    morning" and "all morning" also have the difference. Thanks=)

    Yes.

    Junwei Guo

    Banned

    Taiwan

    Chinese

    • Jul 6, 2018
    • #11

    Junwei Guo

    Banned

    Taiwan

    Chinese

    • Jul 7, 2018
    • #12

    Uncle Jack said:

    Yes, compared with "all week".

    Does the difference also go for "year": the whole year VS all year?
    For example: "I've been studying English all year." (The year is not quite over yet)
    In the example, "the whole year" is also acceptable but unnatural, right?
    Thanks again=)

    Uncle Jack

    Senior Member

    Cumbria, UK

    British English

    • Jul 7, 2018
    • #13

    Looking at a year, where clearly the meaning is not entirely literal (the person must have slept, for instance, and probably went on holiday), puts a different focus on the expressions, and it is clear that when spoken at the time (shortly before the end of the year for instance), that the difference is one of emphasis. "All year" is the ordinary way of saying it, "the whole year" adds some emphasis and "for the entire year" probably adds a little bit more. All three phrases could be said a little before the end of the year, or just after it ended.

    When looking back at the year from some time in the future, Edinburgher's post #2 is still valid, that you would be less likely to say "all year" and more likely to use one of the other expressions.

    Junwei Guo

    Banned

    Taiwan

    Chinese

    • Jul 7, 2018
    • #14

    Uncle Jack said:

    Looking at a year, where clearly the meaning is not entirely literal (the person must have slept, for instance, and probably went on holiday), puts a different focus on the expressions, and it is clear that when spoken at the time (shortly before the end of the year for instance), that the difference is one of emphasis. "All year" is the ordinary way of saying it, "the whole year" adds some emphasis and "for the entire year" probably adds a little bit more. All three phrases could be said a little before the end of the year, or just after it ended.

    When looking back at the year from some time in the future, Edinburgher's post #2 is still valid, that you would be less likely to say "all year" and more likely to use one of the other expressions.

    I've got it. Thank you so much=)

    Junwei Guo

    Banned

    Taiwan

    Chinese

    • Jul 15, 2018
    • #15

    Uncle Jack said:

    Looking at a year, where clearly the meaning is not entirely literal (the person must have slept, for instance, and probably went on holiday), puts a different focus on the expressions, and it is clear that when spoken at the time (shortly before the end of the year for instance), that the difference is one of emphasis. "All year" is the ordinary way of saying it, "the whole year" adds some emphasis and "for the entire year" probably adds a little bit more. All three phrases could be said a little before the end of the year, or just after it ended.

    When looking back at the year from some time in the future, Edinburgher's post #2 is still valid, that you would be less likely to say "all year" and more likely to use one of the other expressions.

    Hi, Uncle Jack~
    I think the same also goes for "summer."
    So in the example below:
    "Five years ago, I usually played with my cousins near my aunt's house ______."
    A. the whole summer B. all summer
    I wanted to check if it's less likely to say "all summer" and more likely to use "the whole summer."
    Thanks=)

    Uncle Jack

    Senior Member

    Cumbria, UK

    British English

    • Jul 15, 2018
    • #16

    Junwei Guo said:

    Hi, Uncle Jack~
    I think the same also goes for "summer."
    So in the example below:
    "Five years ago, I usually played with my cousins near my aunt's house ______."
    A. the whole summer B. all summer
    I wanted to check if it's less likely to say "all summer" and more likely to use "the whole summer."
    Thanks=)

    You would be more likely to say "all summer" simply doing something "all summer" is such a common expression and, more to the point, it does not (usually) actually mean all summer. Often (in Britain at least) it just refers to the six weeks of school holidays, and in any case "summer" is not precisely defined in ordinary English (there are at least two competing definitions: the months of June. July and August and the period from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox).

    You would say "the whole summer" if you wanted to emphasise that it really was for the whole summer (but, curiously, even here it might only refer to the school holidays, although "the whole (of the) summer holiday(s)" is a common enough expression.

    Junwei Guo

    Banned

    Taiwan

    Chinese

    • Jul 16, 2018
    • #17

    Uncle Jack said:

    You would be more likely to say "all summer" simply doing something "all summer" is such a common expression and, more to the point, it does not (usually) actually mean all summer. Often (in Britain at least) it just refers to the six weeks of school holidays, and in any case "summer" is not precisely defined in ordinary English (there are at least two competing definitions: the months of June. July and August and the period from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox).

    You would say "the whole summer" if you wanted to emphasise that it really was for the whole summer (but, curiously, even here it might only refer to the school holidays, although "the whole (of the) summer holiday(s)" is a common enough expression.

    Got it~ Thanks again=)

    dec-sev

    Senior Member

    Russian

    • Mar 26, 2019
    • #18

    Uncle Jack said:

    You would say "the whole summer" if you wanted to emphasise that it really was for the whole summer (but, curiously, even here it might only refer to the school holidays, although "the whole (of the) summer holiday(s)" is a common enough expression.

    Which grammar tense is better to be used with "the whole + noun" ?
    a)I slept badly the whole summer because it was extremely hot
    b) I was sleeping badly the whole summer because it was extremely hot
    (the summer is over in both cases).

    Uncle Jack

    Senior Member

    Cumbria, UK

    British English

    • Mar 26, 2019
    • #19

    I think you could use either. Certainly if it was just for one night, you would use "slept" (unless you wanted to describe something that happened while you were sleeping badly), but you can use "was sleeping" to emphasise the repetitiveness of it.

    dec-sev

    Senior Member

    Russian

    • Mar 26, 2019
    • #20

    And if it were 'the whole night"? Imagine someone having a stomachache. He falls asleep when the pain abates but wakes up with new fits of pain. So,
    I was sleeping badly the whole night or I slept badly the whole night?

    Uncle Jack

    Senior Member

    Cumbria, UK

    British English

    • Mar 26, 2019
    • #21

    I'd probably use "slept" unless you also made clear that you woke repeatedly, so that "was sleeping" refers to a repeated event. Normally, a single night's sleep is counted as a single event.

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