What is the grammatical explanation of the phrase “all that” as in the sentence “I didn’t understand all that much”?

What is the grammatical explanation for the phrase “nothing at all” as in the sentence “I didn’t understand all that much”?

  1. I didn’t understand much. I should be careful.

What is the English grammar behind the phrase “all the that”. I came across the sentence above and now wonder if he could explain the sentence afterward?

Also see:

  1. All that glitter is not gold.

In this case, ‘all’ seems an pronoun; ‘that’, a relative pronoun. Why do some sentences without relative clauses include that part of the sentence 1? What is the usage of this word but it may be different and related to a particular subject?

I don’t have any other clue in this that I can use in determining the grammatical explanation.


After discussing with John, I think it is a good idea to add another sentence for further understanding.

  1. I understood everything, I didn’t understand all that.

This sentence is very similar to (1) but it could be structurally different from (1).

I hope this comparison help us understand these usage more precise.

Asked on March 10, 2021 in Grammar.
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2 Answer(s)
  1. All is a descriptive adjective. (Antonies) to be more precise, a determiner. The t is a demonstrative pronoun that means noun; it is modified by all. The construction is similar to all that stuff except that that functions as an adjective in that sentence, modifying stuff. Here we don’t have stuff, so that takes the place of a noun.

  2. All is an adjective/determiner that functions as a noun; many adjectives can function like nouns, such as in the weak perished and red is nice. That is a relative pronoun referring back to all, its antecedent. It introduces the relative clause that glitters. The main clause is all is not gold. The relative clause is restricting/defining because it restricts what all refers to. Without restricting, all things would refer to more things then with restrictive relative clause.

How well do I write a letter to a friend of mine?

Answered on March 10, 2021.
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What makes a Quantifier and Important it’s an idiomatic Negative Polarity Item?

Why does light occur only when there is a trigger?
Like didn’t.. I read this, I can’t understand

  • the details of what she said.

If you can’t say

  • * (Lisa) I understood all that much of what she said.

Is there NO negative trigger, the only positive trigger is negative triggers?

In the appropriate negative context, it means, basically, not much at all

  • I doubt he enjoyed all that much of the play.
  • Is it really as if she weighed very much?

And it can be used with other quantifiers besides much : She isn’t all

  • that gorgeous.
  • Why don’t we hear more about a topic?

What is for a good cause?

Answered on March 10, 2021.
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