全 + Noun (the whole / all of)

One word that gathers the whole group

• The photo from your class trip arrives. Everyone is in it: the whole class全班quán bānall都dōube in/at在zàiphoto照片zhàopiàninside里lǐ。 — the whole class is in the photo. all全quán gathers every member of the group into one word.
• Today you will say the whole ___ about families, classes, companies and years — and you will learn where all全quán stops, because it does not mean "every".

the whole class全班quán bānall都dōube in/at在zàiphoto照片zhàopiàninside里lǐ。

Build the form

• The pattern is all全quán + noun, usually followed by all都dōu + verb: the whole class全班quán bān + all都dōu + be in/at在zàiphoto照片zhàopiàninside里lǐ. The all都dōu marks that the verb covers the whole gathered group.
• More groups: the whole family全家quán jiā the whole family, whole nation全国quán guó the whole country, the whole year全年quán nián the whole year, 全校quán xiào the whole school. The noun after all全quán names the container; all全quán fills it.

the whole year全年quán niánwe我们wǒmenall都dōuat在zàido internships实习shíxí。

Read it in real situations

• the whole family全家quán jiāall都dōucome来lái(completed / change)了le。 — the whole family came (the family we are talking about).
• 这家zhè jiācompany公司gōng sīthe whole year全年quán niánall都dōuto be infectious招人zhāo rén。 — this company hires all year round.
• the whole class全班quán bānall都dōupass通过tōngguò(completed / change)了leexam考试kǎoshì。 — the whole class passed the exam. pass通过tōngguò to pass; exam考试kǎoshì exam.

the whole class全班quán bānall都dōupass通过tōngguò了leexam考试kǎoshì。

all全quán is not each每měi, and not every

• all全quán + noun gathers one bounded group: the whole family全家quán jiā = the whole of this family. each每měi + noun distributes over individuals: 每个měi gèfamily家庭jiā tíngall都dōuto love爱àito take a picture拍照pāi zhào — every family loves taking photos (each one, separately). A bounded whole and a universal "every" are different claims.
• The classic mistake: the whole family全家quán jiāall都dōuto like喜欢xǐ huanthis这个zhè gedining hall餐厅cān tīng。 does not mean "all families like this restaurant" — it says our/the family does. For a universal claim you want all所有suǒ yǒu or 每个měi gè: all所有suǒ yǒufamily家庭jiā tíng…
• Near-correct check: the whole year全年quán nián vs every year每年měi nián. the whole year全年quán niánall都dōube in/at在zàito work工作gōng zuò = working the whole year through; every year每年měi niánall都dōucome来lái = comes every year. Pick the one that matches your meaning.

Use it yourself

• Say it about your life: your family, your class, your city. 我家wǒ jiā…, we我们wǒmenthe whole class全班quán bān…, whole city全城quán chéng… — one true sentence each, out loud or written down.
• Compare the whole family全家quán jiācome来lái(completed / change)了le and the whole family全家quán jiāall都dōucome来lái(completed / change)了le: both can be grammatical. Adding all都dōu explicitly emphasises that every family member came; it is common in this pattern, but not compulsory.

New context, same decision

• A shop sign: everyone present全场quán chǎnghalf price半价bàn jià — the whole store at half price (variant of 场场chǎng here is the venue). A weather report: whole city全市quán shì有雨yǒu yǔ — rain across the whole city. Same all全quán, new containers; check each group is one bounded whole.
• Tomorrow, before you reopen this page: say "my whole family came" and "every family" aloud. If the two come out identical, redo the contrast step — that difference is the lesson.

Read the full reference: HSK 4 grammar — Adjectives.