Altogether and All Together… Ah! One of those classic phonetic twins! These two have troubled every English speaker at least once. If you are an exception, well, lucky you! But, if we understand the correct logic behind the words, they will not bother us again.

The pair Altogether–All Together can be confusing especially when we’re writing. Using the wrong one while speaking wouldn’t make much difference, would it? 🙂

Anyway, let’s dig in!

This was just a brief introduction like an appetizer. But, there is a full course meal below. Right from the detailed explanation, charts, infographics to video and audio, you’ll find everything here. Keep scrolling!

Oh! And, yes, there is a small quiz too, at the bottom. It will cast your understanding in concrete.

CONTENTS: Meaning of ‘Altogether‘ – ‘Altogether‘ as an adverb – Examples of ‘Altogether‘ in a sentence with an explanation Meaning of ‘All together‘ – Examples of ‘All together‘ in a sentence with explanation Altogether v/s All together: Differences Using Altogether and All together in a sentence – More examples of Altogether and All together Test yourself Final Thoughts

Meaning of ‘Altogether‘:  

‘Altogether‘ is an adverb in the English Language which is used to represent the inclusion of everything/everyone we’re talking about. When you say ‘altogether’, you’re signifying its meaning as ‘whole’. Synonyms of the adverb ‘Altogether‘ are completely, totally, wholly, etc.

‘Altogether‘ as an adverb:

Okay, if ‘Altogether‘ is an adverb, it should be able to meaningfully replace other adverbs.

Let’s try!

Even after being best buddies, they stopped talking to each other totally after the stupid fight.

So we know, “totally” is an adverb here. Let’s try replacing it with “altogether”

Even after being best buddies, they stopped talking to each other altogether after the stupid fight.

Yup, that works just fine.

Examples of ‘Altogether‘ in a sentence with explanation:

• “Altogether, the evening was spent well.”

Wrong: “All together, the evening was spent well.” This will change the meaning of the sentence completely (or, altogether!).

• Tanya’s painting looked altogether harmonious on the magnificent wall.

Here, altogether is used as an adverb signifying ‘completely’ / ‘wholly’ / ‘entirely’.

Meaning of ‘All together‘:

‘All together‘ is a phrase in the English language, which refers to “all at once” or “all in one place”. When you want to refer to every person in a group or everything in a cluster, or every idea on the table, you will use “all together”. It can be used with a noun or a verb in between the phrases. When you have all together in a sentence, that sentence can be rephrased to separate all and together by other words.

Now, let’s try the same adverb-testing example for “all together“:

Original: Even after being best buddies, they stopped talking to each other totally after the stupid fight.

Upon replacing with “all together“: Even after being best buddies, they stopped talking to each other all together after the stupid fight.

Nah! That changes the meaning completely.

Examples of ‘All together‘ in a sentence with explanation:

• The guests arrived at the party all together.

Here, all together is used as a phrase signifying ‘all in one place’.

• Did you put all the pairs of socks together?

• The clothes lay all together in a pile.

• All the clothes lay together in a pile.

• They put all the coins together in a piggy bank.

• After the meeting, all employees should join for lunch together in the garden.

Altogether v/s All together: Differences

The players defeated the other team altogether and won the game all together by putting forth their best. 

Did you get the altogether and all together meaning right in the above sentence?

Read it again, 

Here what it means when it says,

Altogether – the other team was defeated completely.

All together – all the players in the team played together.

Though the usage varies, altogether meaning in English is ‘whole’ and all together meaning in English is ‘a group in the same place’ or ‘at the same time’. 

Broadly, if you know entirely, completely, totally are altogether synonyms, then understanding the difference between altogether and all together will be easier. 

Sr. No.	Altogether	All Together
1.	Characterized as an Adverb	Characterized as a phrase
2.	One word – can never be split	Two-worded phrase – words ‘all‘ & “together” can be separated in a sentence depending on the need
3.	Meaning of Altogether: completely, including everything, in all, overall, for the most part,	Meaning of All together: all at one place, taking into account everything in the group, considering all at once.
4.	The whole word ‘Altogether‘ refers to something (can be a single item/thing/idea/logical entity)	‘All‘ refers to something that is in the state of being ‘together’ (for the most part, refer to multiple items/things/ideas/logical entities)
5.	When should you use ‘altogether’? It’s an adverb. So, when you want to support the verb/adjective/another adverb/whole-sentence with extra emphasis, you use it. For example, The cake from Geeta’s Bakery is different than others’. Here, you can modify the adjective ‘different’ by adding the adverb ‘completely’. The cake from Geeta’s Bakery is completely different than others’. Continuing, let’s replace ‘completely’ with its synonym ‘altogether’. The cake from Geeta’s Bakery is altogether different than others’.	When should you use ‘all together’? When you want to refer to every person in a group or everything in a cluster, or every idea on the table, you will use “all together” For example, All ingredients together are constituting something. All ideas together are creating something. All girls together are writing something. All animals together are probably migrating somewhere. All countries together are perhaps signing an agreement.
6.	Synonyms of Altogether: Completely Largely Overall Absolutely Wholly Fully Entirely Thoroughly Utterly Mostly Quite Totally	Synonyms of All together: Collectively Simultaneously In unison Combined Jointly Concurrently
7.	Antonyms of Altogether: Incompletely Relatively Inadequately Partly Partially	Antonyms of All together: Separately Individually Apart Independently Solely

Using Altogether and All together in a sentence:

Sr. No.	Altogether usage in a sentence	All together usage in a sentence
1	The magic show was altogether fun.	They all together gathered in the ground for the basketball game.
2	Altogether, Shelly scored above an average in her examination.	They all attended a birthday party together.
3	Finally, the project is finished altogether.	All class students worked on science projects together.
4	“Sir, yours – a coffee, a muffin, and a scone – that’s $10/50 altogether.”	“Sir, table 1 bill is $57.30, table 2 is $38.12 and your table bill is $30.25. Are you all sitting together? Should I make one bill altogether?”

More examples of Altogether and All together:

• InFocus 103: Altogether – Different – https://news.wsiu.org/
• Altogether 606 new Covid-19 cases and six more deaths were registered in the state in the past 24 hours. – The Times of India
• Adventure, Scenic Beauty, And Water Sports All Together – Why Visiting California Post Pandemic is a Good Idea. – India.com

Test yourself:

Here’s a small Altogether v/s All together quiz to solidify your understanding. Answers are given at the end of the quiz.

Enter the correct choice (Altogether/All together) in the blanks given below:

1. So, how did my event management skills impress you __________________ ?
2. Let me put __________________ the tickets __________________ in my pocket together because you are all very irresponsible __________________.
3. Anyway, I want you __________________ to come to my wedding __________________. I don’t care if you’re fighting.
4. __________________, it was a wonderful game.
5. Why didn’t you go __________________ to the party?

Answers:

1. Altogether
2. All, together, altogether
3. All, together
4. Altogether
5. all together

Final Thoughts:

So, that was the simple answer to the confusing question of “Altogether and All together“. Hope you enjoyed reading it! If you have any queries, feel free to drop them in the comments box below. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter below. You will find much more interesting & mind-blowing stuff there.

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