The Russian word весь[vyes] roughly means "all." However, it can be translated with a variety of similar words, like "the entire," "the whole," "everything," or "everyone," depending on how it is used in a sentence. Like the word "all" in English, весь can either be used as an (e.g. "all week") or as a (e.g. "All was quiet"). For example:
Modifier | Pronoun form |
|---|---|
Весь день мы гуляли по городу. vyes dyen my gooLYAli pa GOradoo We walked around the city all day. | Всё будет хорошо! fsyo BOOdit kharaSHO Everything will be fine! |
Все люди хотят быть счастливыми. fsye LYUdi khaTYAT byt shchaSLEEvymi All people want to be happy. | Мы поговорили со всеми. my pagavaREEli sa FSYEmi We spoke to everyone. |
Are you ready to learn about all the different ways to use весь in Russian? Let's start by looking at how to use it as an adjective, then we'll look at how to use it as a pronoun. Follow me!
When the word весь[vyes](all) is used before a noun, it is functioning as an adjective: it specifies that you're talking about the entirety of the noun it precedes. In this use, you'll often see the word весь[vyes] with another synonym like - "the whole," or "a complete," or "the entire."
весь дом
vyes dom
(the) entire house
вся страна
fsya straNA
(the) whole country
все свое умение
fsyo svaYO ooMYEniye
(the) entire skill
все книги
fsye KNEEgi
all books
It usually describes the noun that follows it, and has grammatical features similar to adjectives. It has gender, number and case features, in which they agree with the noun to which they refer. Let’s look at the chart.
Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | весь[vyes] | всё[fsyo] | вся[fsya] | все[fsye] |
Accusative (inanimate) | весь[vyes] | всё[fsyo] | всю[fsya] | все[fsye] |
Accusative (animate) | всего[vyiVO] | всех[fsyekh] | ||
Genitive | всего[vyiVO] | всей[fsyey] | всех[fsyekh] | |
Dative | всему[vyiMOO] | всем[fsyem] | ||
Instrumental | всем[vsyem] | всеми[FSYEmi] | ||
Prepositional | всём[vsyom] | всех[fsyekh] | ||
Now let’s go through some examples below and try to observe how the word весь[vyes] agrees with the noun that follows it:
Весь день мы искали номера телефонов всех друзей.
vyes dyen my isKAli namiRA tiliFOnaf fsyekh drooZYEY
We spent the whole day looking for the phone numbers of all our friends.
Вся жизнь была полна всеми земными радостями.
fsya zhyzn byLA palNA FSYEmi zimNYmi RAdastyami
My entire life was full of all earthly joys.
Все студенты не знают всю грамматику.
fsye stooDYENty ni ZNAyut fsyu graMAtikoo
All students don’t know all the grammar.
За всё это время они поговорили обо всех новостях.
za fsyo Eta VRYEmya aNEE pagavaREEli aba VSYEKH navaSTYAKH
During all this time they talked about all the news.
The word весь[vyes] can be translated into English in different ways:
All/every/each when the noun that follows is plural, For example:
все страны
fsye STRAny
all countries / each country / every country
(the) whole or (the) entire when the noun that follows is singular, For example:
вся страна
fsya straNA
(the/a) whole country / (the/an) entire country
In certain contexts, the pronoun весь[vyes] can be translated as “everything” or “everyone” and functions in the sentence as subject or object replacing a noun. In the meaning of "everything" весь[vyes] declines like a neuter noun: всё[fsoy], and when you want to say "everyone" you'll decline it like a plural one: все[fsye]. Let’s look at the chart.
Nominative | всё[fsyo](everything) | все[fsye](everyone) |
|---|---|---|
Accusative | всё[fsyo] | всех[fsyekh] |
Genitive | всего[fsiVO] | всех[fsyekh] |
Dative | всему[fsiMOO] | всем[fsyem] |
Instrumental | всем[fsyem] | всеми[FSYEmi] |
Prepositional | всём[fsyom] | всех[fsyekh] |
In Russian, you can describe the pronoun весь[vyes] with a descriptive phrase, just like we say "everything in the world" or "everyone taller than me" in English. Now let’s look at some examples:
Case | Example |
|---|---|
Nominative |
|
Accusative |
|
Genitive |
|
Prepositional | Ну, рассказывайте обо всём и обо всех по порядку. noo, rasKAzyvaytye aba FSYOM ee aba FSYEKH pa paRYATkoo Well, tell me about everything and everyone in order/one thing at a time. |
Dative |
|
Instrumental |
|
The prepositions в[v], к[k], с[s], etc. will acquire a final letter о[o] before the words весь[vyes](all/whole/entire), все[fsye](everyone), and всё[fsyo](everything) to ease pronunciation. Additionally, the preposition о[o] will turn into обо[aba].
Во всём мире
va fsyom MEErye
worldwide
lit. in the whole world
Плюс ко всему
plyus ka fsiMOO
in addition
lit. plus to everything
Поговорить со всеми и обо всём
pagavaREET sa FSYEmi i aba FSYOM
to talk to everyone and about everything
Unlike in English, the Russian pronoun все[fsye](everyone) is plural and requires plural agreement with the verb. For example:
Все знают о проблеме.
fsye ZNAyut a praBLYEmye
Everyone knows about the problem.
lit. Everyone know...
Все читали об этом.
fsye chiTAli ab Etam
Everyone read about it.
Все будут помнить.
fsye BOOdoot POMnit
Everyone will remember.
Luckily the pronounвсё[fsyo](everything) functioning as a pronoun is singular, though, so when you use it in this sense, the number is what you would expect from English.
Всё было спокойно.
Fsyo BYla spaKOYna
Everything was calm.
Quite often two dots over the letter ё[yo] are not included in any typed document unless it’s a Russian language textbook. So the pronouns “everything” and “everyone” will look the same - все[fse/fsyo]. Context usually helps to understand which one is which.
The pronoun весь[vyes](all/whole/entire) is used to describe or modify nouns and is often used to indicate the entirety of something.
The pronoun changes based on the gender number and role of the noun it goes together with.
The pronoun весь[vyes] has forms всё[fsyo](everything) and все[fsye](everyone) functioning as subject or object in the sentence. These pronouns also change their forms (cases) based on their role in the sentence.
Ready to practice what you've learned? Check out these practice exercises!
