All versus Both

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Dear teachers,

My teacher wrote on the black board:

We all both arrived late.

Do you think this sentence is correct?
(Normally, “both” refers to 2 things or people, “all” refers to more than 2 things or people. So, why can they be together?)

The sentence: We both all arrived late is corect?

Thanks
Quoc

2

Hi Quoc

I’d consider both of you sentences to be wrong.
You should write either:

We both arrived late.
-OR-
We all arrived late.

Amy

3

Hi Quoc,

Was your teacher having a joke when he wrote this? We all both ??? - very strange indeed.

I would say We both arrived or The two of us arrived

I’m fascinated with why you teacher writes funny things on the board!

Alan

4

.
Maybe the teacher wrote or meant to write:

“We all/both arrived late.”
.

5

Perhaps Quoc could enlighten us. I think we should get to the bottom of this.