Tot, Cada, Cadascun, and Tothom

English uses all, every, each, and everyone across several overlapping situations. Catalan divides the same territory among tot, which gathers a quantity into one whole, cada and cadascun, which inspect members one by one, and tothom, which means every person.

The important question is not simply “Which word translates all?” It is whether you are presenting a set as a whole or distributing an action over its individual members. That choice controls the article, the number of the noun, and often the agreement of the verb.

The core forms

The first sentence displays agreement across several words: feminine plural totes, les, finestres, noves, obertes, and netes. English leaves all unchanged, but Catalan makes the quantifier part of the agreement system.

Tot presents a whole

Before a definite noun phrase, tot comes before the article: tot el matí, tota la setmana, tots els carrers, totes les entrades. It can also precede a demonstrative or an article plus possessive: tota aquesta gent, tots els meus cosins. The following determiner identifies the set; tot says that none of it is excluded.

With a singular noun, tot/tota means “the whole” or “all of”: tot el pastís, tota la ciutat. With a plural noun, tots/totes includes every member: tots els pastissos, totes les ciutats. A singular collective noun still triggers singular agreement: tot l'equip ha arribat, whereas a plural count noun triggers plural agreement: tots els jugadors han arribat.

Before un/una, tot has an emphatic “a whole/an entire” reading: tot un any, tota una aventura. This is not the ordinary way to say “every.”

As a pronoun, neuter tot means “everything”: Tot ha anat bé; Ja ho sap tot. It is not a human plural; for “everyone,” use tothom.

(formal) In generic rules, tot/tota + singular noun can appear without an article and mean “every/any”: Tota persona interessada pot presentar una sol·licitud. This construction ranges over a class; it does not license dropping the article from ordinary duration phrases such as tota la tarda.

Cada distributes over individuals

Cada is invariable and normally selects a singular count noun without an article: cada dia, cada casa, cada estudiant. It asks you to imagine the members separately, even when the resulting claim is true of the entire set. A subject headed by cada therefore takes a singular verb.

The construction can contain a numeral in expressions of repeated interval: cada dos dies, cada tres setmanes. Here the plural belongs to the measure after the numeral; cada itself is still invariable.

Compare the context-sensitive pair:

Tot el dia measures one day as a complete stretch. Cada dia distributes the same event over a series of days. English all day versus every day makes the same distinction, but English speakers often lose the Catalan article in the first pattern.

Cadascun selects one member from a set

Cadascun and feminine cadascuna mean “each one.” They are especially useful before a de-phrase that names a definite set: cadascun dels candidats, cadascuna de les habitacions. The noun inside the de-phrase may be plural, but the head is singular, so a subject normally takes a singular verb.

The separated forms cada un and cada una are also standard. When there is no expressed noun or de-phrase and the meaning is “each person,” the pronouns are cadascú or cada u: Cadascú sap què ha de fer. Do not use cadascun as a general word for “everyone.”

Tothom is human and grammatically singular

Tothom means “everybody/everyone.” It stands without a following noun and takes singular agreement: tothom sap, tothom està preparat. Its reference can include many people, but its grammatical number is singular. For things, use tot “everything,” not tothom.

English permits singular they after everyone. Catalan usually omits a repeated subject pronoun and continues with singular grammar. When a following adjective predicates directly of tothom, the unmarked form is masculine singular: tothom està content.

Order, articles, and register

The neutral order is quantificational material first, then identifying material, then the noun and ordinary descriptive modifiers: totes aquestes propostes útils. A modifier can precede the noun for its own semantic reason—totes les noves mesures commonly means “all the additional/new measures”—but English adjective order does not license moving every adjective forward.

With a definite plural subject, agreeing tots/totes can also be “floated” away from the noun phrase: Els estudiants ja han arribat tots. The postverbal quantifier still includes every member of the identified set; it is not an article-free version of tots estudiants.

See Determiner Stacking for the wider ordering system that combines quantifiers, demonstratives, possessives, and numerals.

These four quantifiers and their agreement patterns belong to the general contemporary standard, including Central and Valencian Catalan. (regional: Balearic) the salat article can appear in ordinary local speech after tot, as in tot es dia. In a Central-standard passage, use tot el dia; changing the article system halfway through a phrase is not a new quantifier paradigm.

Spanish todo is a tempting cognate, but article distribution still has to be learned in Catalan. Also note the gender of the Catalan noun: standard Catalan has feminine la calor, so “all the heat” is tota la calor, not a form copied from Spanish el calor.

Common Mistakes

1. Omitting the article after tot.

2. Treating tot as invariable like English all.

3. Giving cada a plural agreement.

4. Using plural agreement with tothom.

5. Copying a neighboring language's noun gender.

Key Takeaways

Use agreeing tot/tota/tots/totes before an article or another identifying determiner to include a whole set. Use invariable cada with a singular noun to distribute an event member by member, and cadascun/cadascuna de to select each member of a known set. Human tothom stands alone and remains singular, however many people it refers to.