Lesson 31. How to say “all, every, everything, everyone” (모든, 다, 모두, 전부, 여러분)​

1. 모두 = everything / everyone / all

This can be used as both a noun and an adverb.

When used as a noun, it can be translated as “everything” or sometimes “everyone,” whilst when used as an adverb, its translation is closer to “all”.

Examples:

모두* 샀나요? – Did you buy everything?
*Note : when 모두 means “everything,” it’s slightly awkward to used topic/subject/object marking particles. So it’s better to write 모두 without them.

모두 깨끗해 보여요 – Everything looks clean.

모두 말해! – Tell me everything!

모두 무겁네요. – It’s all heavy.

모두가** 치즈를 잘 먹어요 – We all eat cheese well (/like cheese).
Since this 모두 means “we all’ as in “everyone,” it doesn’t sound awkward to put topic/subject/object marking particles.

2. 모든 = all + noun

When using 모두 to directly describe other nouns, it must be modified into its adjective form, 모든. This would then be translated as “ALL nouns” or “EVERY noun”.

Examples: 

모든 아이들은 학교에 다녀야 돼요 – All the kids need to go to (/attend) school.

모든 차들이 은행 뒤에 주차되어 있어요 – All the cars are parked behind the bank.

모든 모자가 나에 맞지 않아 – Every hat doesn’t fit me.

3. 다 = everything/all

Much like 모두, 다 can be used as both a noun and adverb to mean “everything” “everyone” and “all” respectively. In this way, 모두 and 다 are interchangeable; however, 다 often sounds more casual. It is also possible to combine the two words to form 모두 다.

Examples:

엄마 온다! 빨리 다 숨겨! – Mom’s coming! Quickly hide everything! (숨기다: to hide sth)

요즘에는 모두 다 연애를 하나 봐요 – I guess everyone is dating these days.

머리부터 발끝까지 모두 다 좋아해요 – From your head to your toes, I love everything (about you).

다들* 배고파해요. – Everyone is feeling hungry.
*When 다 means everyone, you can also put the plural marker “-들” and say “다들.” Same with 모두 when it means everyone; you can say “모두들.”

다 왔어요. 1) Everyone came. 2) Everything came. 3) I arrived / I’m almost there. (I finished coming)

NB: another difference between 모두 and 다 is that 다 can be used before verb to indicate that an action has been finished (e.g., 다 먹었어요 – I’ve finished eating, 숙제를 다 했어요 – I’ve finished my homework.). 모두 can NOT be used in this way.

Please check this vocabulary lesson for many ways to say “to finish.”

4. 전부 = everything, all of it

This word is formed of hanja, 전(全) “whole” and 부(部) “part” and so comes to mean the “whole part” or “all of something”. In this way, it is completely interchangeable with 모두 and 다 and can be combined with 다 in the same way as 모두 to form 전부 다.

SUMMARY: 모두 = 전부 = 다  and 모두 다 = 전부 다

The only difference is that 전부 is rarely used when describing people or other living things, and 모두 or 다 is often used in these cases.

Examples:

전부 다 가져가세요 – Take everything with you.

케이크를 전부 드릴까요? – Should I give you the whole cake?

NB: Note how 전부, 다 and 모두 can all be translated in the same way as 모든 + noun, when used to describe nouns (e.g., all nouns/every noun). The main difference, however, is that since 모든 is in its adjective form, it MUST be followed by a noun, whereas the other words would instead come after the noun.

e.g.
저희 부모님께 돈을 모두 다 드렸어요 – I gave all of my money to my parents.

그 사람의 말을 모두 믿을 수 없어요 – You can’t believe every word he says.

제가 읽은 책이 전부 재미있었어요 – Every book I’ve read has been enjoyable.   

모든 사람은 피자를 좋아해요 – Every person (/everyone) likes pizza.

5. 여러분 = everyone, all of you

When broken down, this word is made up of “여러,” meaning “many,” and “분,” the honorific form of 사람/ 명 which means “people”. Therefore, altogether, this translates to “everyone” or “you all / you guys”. As it contains this word 분, it can only be used to refer to people and is often only used when addressing a large group/crowd of people.

다들 can be used in the same way but is a lot less formal than 여러분.

Examples:

여러분, 모이세요! – Everyone gather around.

여러분, 어제 뭐했어요? – What did you guys do yesterday? 

여러분께 드리고 싶은 말이 있어요. – There’s something I wanna tell you guys.

여러분, 집중하세요! – Focus, everyone!

저녁 준비됐으니까 다들 먹으러 와! Dinner’s ready, so everyone come eat!

SUMMARY