Toàn (Adj)

Situations

S1: Tomorrow is a holiday for the entire school.

Ngày mai, toàn trường được nghỉ.
(The whole school has tomorrow off.)

Toàn precedes collective nouns to indicate all members/parts of that group.

S2: A sewing company has only female workers.

Công ty này toàn nữ.
(The employees of this company are all female.)

Toàn implies that a group is comprised of only one kind, with no others.

Definition

Toàn, as an adjective, indicates every element in a group when placed before collective nouns (S1). When placed before a common noun, it indicates that a group consists of only one kind (S2).

  • toàn, cả, tất cả:
  • Toàn indicates every element of a group or that a group consists of only one kind.
  • Cả indicates a group is considered a single unit. It cannot express "only one kind" like toàn.
  • Tất cả refers to all units of a group/class. Like cả, it cannot express "only one kind".
- Ngày mai, toàn / cả / tất cả trường được nghỉ.
- Công ty này toàn / *cả / *tất cả nữ.

Combinations

  • toàn X là X: (X is usually a noun.)
Trên kệ toàn sách là sách.
(The shelves are filled with nothing but books.)

Cf. chỉ (p. 45), tất cả (p. 355).