Mọi (Quan)

Situations

S1: All of the staff have left the office.

Mọi người đã ra về.
(Everyone has left.)

Mọi denotes the entire group of staff but does not express an exact number.

S2: You can buy Sài Gòn beer anywhere.

Anh có thể mua bia Sài Gòn ở mọi nơi.
(You can get Sài Gòn beer everywhere.)

Mọi implies all places without referring to how many.

Definition

Mọi, as an indefinite quantifier, refers to the whole of a group or mass (identified by the noun which follows).

Related Expressions

• mọi and mỗi: To refer to a whole group of members sharing a quality, mọi can in some cases be replaced with mỗi. Cf. mỗi1 (p. 249).

Combinations

• Mọi + time expression (khi, hôm, lúc, lần, năm, tháng, ngày): Used to refer to time up to the moment of speaking.

[1] Mọi ngày anh ấy về nhà lúc 7 giờ.
    (He usually gets home at seven o'clock.)

(In this situation, returning at seven is regular in the past.)

[2] Công việc của Lan vẫn như mọi khi.
    (Lan is doing the same work as usual.)

Mọi (khi) covers the past up to now. We use như / vẫn như to avoid implying a change.

NOTES:

• Mọi must be followed by a countable noun. Combinations like mọi nhân dân, mọi nhà cửa, mọi áo quần are prohibited.
• Mọi cannot go with các or những.
• tất cả mọi X: Used to refer to the whole of what is being said.

[3] Tất cả mọi người đều biết anh ấy.
    (Everyone knows him.)