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Understanding the difference between commonly confused words will help you avoid making errors in English usage. Let’s examine the difference between the following:
Unlike all right and alright, which are synonyms, all together and altogether do not mean the same thing.
all together
All together mean as a group, collectively, all in one place, or all at once: it conveys a unity of time, place, or action.
Despite living in different states, the family members will be all together at Christmas.When all together is used correctly, you can even split up the two words and place them in different parts of the sentence, and it will still make sense:
Despite living in different states, all the family members will be together at Christmas.
altogether
Altogether means completely, totally, entirely, including everything or everyone, in total, or on the whole.
The real estate agent told Wendy that the home had five bedrooms altogether.
After their argument, Rose stopped seeing Vincent altogether.
The phrase in the altogether means with no clothes on; in a state of nudity.
The painter’s model agreed to pose in the altogether.Photo credits:
Photo 1: Photo by Nicole Michalou from Pexels
Photo 2: Image by Mahesh Patel from Pixabay