The Pronoun "Весь" (All / The Whole)
To talk about "all" of something or "the whole" thing, Russian uses the pronoun весь. Because it acts like an adjective, it must agree with the gender and number of the noun it describes.
Here are the nominative (subject) forms:
| Gender/Number | Nominative Form |
|---|
| Masculine | весь |
| Feminine | вся |
| Neuter | всё |
| Plural | все |
"Everything" and "Everyone"
When used on their own without a noun, the neuter and plural forms act as universal pronouns:
- всё means "everything"
- все means "everyone" or "everybody"
When talking about seeing, observing, or studying the universe, these words become the direct object of the sentence, meaning they must take the accusative case.
For inanimate masculine nouns, neuter nouns, and inanimate plural nouns, the accusative forms look exactly the same as the nominative forms (весь, всё, and все).
However, for feminine nouns, the nominative вся changes to the accusative всю. Notice how this rhymes nicely with the feminine accusative noun endings (such as вселенную or систему).
