For one whole thing, Dutch puts _hele_ after the article: _de hele dag_ (the whole day), _het hele jaar_ (the whole year). Before a place name without an article, you use _heel_ on its own: _heel Nederland_ (all of the Netherlands). For all of a group or amount, use _alle_ before a plural (_alle mensen_), _al_ when _het_, _die_ or a possessive follows (_al het geld_, _al mijn vrienden_), and _allemaal_ later in the sentence (_We zijn er allemaal_).
The pattern
_Heel_ means whole: one thing from start to finish. _Al_, _alle_ and _allemaal_ mean all: every person, thing or bit of a group or amount.
- _de hele_ or _het hele_ + singular noun: _de hele dag_, _het hele jaar_. _Hele_ takes the normal adjective endings, so you say _een hele dag_ but _een heel jaar_.
- _heel_ + place name without an article: _heel Nederland_, _heel Utrecht_. Names that have an article use the first pattern: _de hele Randstad_.
- _alle_ + plural noun: _alle mensen_, _alle treinen_ (plus a few set phrases with uncountable nouns, like _met alle respect_).
- _al_ + _het_, _dit_, _dat_, _deze_, _die_ or a possessive (my, your, his): _al het geld_, _al die mensen_, _al mijn vrienden_.
- _allemaal_ stands on its own, in a main clause usually after the conjugated verb (the verb that changes with the subject): _We zijn er allemaal._
Examples
| Daan heeft de hele dag in de trein gezeten. | Daan sat on the train all day. |
|---|---|
| Mei werkt het hele jaar door, behalve in augustus. | Mei works all year round, except in August. |
| Na de finale was heel Nederland oranje. | After the final, the whole of the Netherlands was orange. |
| Alle treinen naar Utrecht hebben vertraging. | All trains to Utrecht are delayed. |
| Fatima heeft al haar collega's uitgenodigd voor haar verjaardag. | Fatima invited all her colleagues to her birthday. |
| Al het eten was op voordat Ahmed er was. | All the food was gone before Ahmed got there. |
| Waar komen al die fietsen ineens vandaan? | Where have all those bikes suddenly come from? |
| Iedereen binnen? Mooi, we zijn er allemaal. | Everyone inside? Great, we are all here. |
| De formulieren van de gemeente? Die heb ik allemaal ingevuld. | The forms from the council? I have filled them all in. |
Why it works this way
Think about position. _Hele_ is an ordinary adjective, so it stands after the article like _mooie_ in _de mooie dag_ and follows the usual [adjective endings](#/lesson/adjective-endings). _Al_ and _alle_ are quantity words: they stand in front of everything, article included.
English mostly helps you: "the whole day" is _de hele dag_ word for word, and "all my friends" is _al mijn vrienden_. The trap is "all the" with a plural: Dutch normally drops the article and says _alle treinen_ (_al de treinen_ exists, but is much less usual). German speakers have the opposite trap: "alle meine Freunde" becomes _al mijn vrienden_, without the -e.
Some contrast pairs make the difference visible:
- _Ik heb de hele dag gewerkt_ (one day, morning to night) versus _Ik heb alle dagen gewerkt_ (every day of a period).
- _Ik heb al het geld_ (I have all the money) versus _Ik heb het geld al_ (I already have the money). That second _al_ means already; see [al, nog and pas](#/lesson/al-nog-pas).
- _al het geld_ versus _het hele bedrag_: with uncountable things like _geld_, _eten_ or _werk_, Dutch usually picks _al het_; _het hele_ goes with one countable thing.
_Allemaal_ behaves like "all" in "we are all here": in most sentences it moves away from the subject into the middle of the sentence, often after short words like _er_, _het_ or _ze_: _Ik heb ze allemaal gebeld._ It can stay right after the subject only with a full, stressed pronoun, and that sounds emphatic: _Wij allemaal hebben hiervoor gewerkt._ You also meet it as a greeting: _Hallo allemaal_ in a group chat, _Beste allen_ in a more formal email.
Two side notes. Before an adjective, _heel_ means very (_heel druk_), a different job covered in the lesson on [intensifiers](#/lesson/intensifiers). And in Belgium you will often hear _heel de dag_; in the Netherlands _de hele dag_ is the usual order.
Remember: _heel_ looks at one thing from edge to edge, _alle_ counts the members of a group, and _al_ in the sense of all leans on a partner right behind it: _het_, _die_ or _mijn_.
Watch out
- Not: _Ik heb alle dag gewerkt._ Say: _Ik heb de hele dag gewerkt._ (English "all day" is one whole stretch of time, so _de hele_)
- Not: _alle mijn vrienden_ Say: _al mijn vrienden_ (before a possessive, no -e)
- Not: _Alle de treinen zijn vol._ Say: _Alle treinen zijn vol._ (no _de_ after _alle_)
- Not: _Hele Nederland kijkt mee._ Say: _Heel Nederland kijkt mee._ (place name without an article: _heel_, no -e)
- Not: _We allemaal zijn het eens._ Say: _We zijn het allemaal eens._ (the usual order; before the verb, only the full pronoun works: _Wij allemaal zijn het eens_)
Quick check
- Choose _de hele_ or _alle_: Lotte heeft ... week thuisgewerkt.
- Choose _al_ or _alle_: Carlos heeft ... zijn boeken in dozen gedaan.
- Choose _heel_ or _hele_: Het is deze week in ... Europa warmer dan normaal.
- Choose _alle_ or _allemaal_: Is iedereen er? Ja, we zijn er ..., dus de vergadering kan beginnen.
Answers
- _de hele_: one week from start to finish; _alle_ would need a plural.
- _al_: a possessive (_zijn_) follows.
- _heel_: a place name without an article.
- _allemaal_: it stands on its own after the verb; _alle_ goes before a plural noun.
Use it today
Send a message to a group chat or your colleagues that starts with _Hallo allemaal_ and uses _de hele_ and _al_ or _alle_ once each, for example about _de hele week_ or _al die regen_.