Each, either, neither, every, both, all

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Each, either, neither, every, both, all... what a mess! Don't each, either and both mean the same? What about all and every? It's time to solve this puzzle once and for all.

In short, here's what they mean and how they work.

• using singular: each, either, neither, every.
• using plural: all, both.

These words can be used as determiners or pronouns; some of them can be other kinds of words as well—you know, that's English for you!—but here we'll talk about them as determiners and pronouns only.

As a determiner,

• each means "everything/everyone in a small group", but referring to them as separate individuals.
• either means "one or the other of two things/people (which one doesn't matter)".
• both means "two out of two things/people".
• neither means "none of two things/people".
• every means "all of two or more things/people".
• all means "the whole of a large group".

Each, either, both, neither and all can also be used as pronouns with the same meaning.

The words each and every are confusing for many students, so here's a video by Oxford English Now that explains why they are different and provides some examples of how to use them. I highly recommend watching it!

For more information, this page from Grammar Top explains their use in both cases (determiners and pronouns).