Already vs. All Ready
The guests had already departed by the time we arrived.
Are you all ready to leave for the concert? (Adjectival phrase meaning fully prepared)
My sister is already for her first day of school.
I have all ready finished my breakfast.
Commonly confused words and phrases come in a steady flow in the English language. One you may have already come across is when to use already vs. all ready. Though both sound the same aloud, they are different and should be used in the appropriate contexts.
| Examples with “already” | Examples with “all ready” |
| I’ve seen this movie twice already. | Is your team all ready for the big game? |
A quick tip is to pay close attention to whichever part of speech both words or phrases belong to. As an adverb, already says or qualifies something about an event or action; whereas ‘all ready‘ is an adjectival phrase that describes or modifies a noun.
Already is an adverb that emphasizes that something happened before now, “by now”, or “sooner or faster than expected”.
Examples of sentences with ‘already’
|
We’ve already learned this! |
|
I’ve seen this movie twice already. |
|
I took the turkey out of the oven already. |
All ready with two words is an adjectival phrase that describes someone or something (often a group) as ‘fully prepared’ or ‘totally ready’.
Examples sentences with ‘all ready’
|
Are you all ready to get in the car? |
|
I was sick for a while, but I’m all ready to get back to work now. |
|
Is everything all ready for dinner? |
See the difference already?
“already” as a single word meaning “before now,” and “all ready” as two words meaning “completely prepared”—think of it as a team (“all”) being ready.
Synonyms of already
- previously
- earlier
- by now
- before
- by now
Synonyms for all ready
- ready
- prepared
- set
- completed
- all set
Check out other commonly confused words
- Is it Elude or Allude?
- When To Use Infer vs. Imply
- What’s the Difference Between Invoke and Evoke?
- Is it Allot, A lot or Alot?
- Which is it: Allusion or Illusion?
- Insure, Ensure or Assure?
- Averse or Adverse?
- “Accept” vs. “Except”: What’s the Difference?
Worksheet
According to the blog post, which part of speech is the word ‘already’?
What does the phrase ‘all ready’ mean, according to the blog post?
Which sentence correctly uses ‘already’ based on the blog post’s examples?
Which sentence correctly uses ‘all ready’ based on the blog post’s definition?
According to the blog post, the phrase ‘all ready’ functions as:
Are you to leave for the concert?
The guests had departed by the time we arrived.
I was sick for a while, but I’m to get back to work now.
We’ve learned this!
Is your team for the big game?
FAQs
What does ‘already’ mean?
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What part of speech is ‘already’?
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What does ‘all ready’ mean?
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What part of speech is ‘all ready’?
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How do I tell already vs all ready apart?
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Yash, D. "Which is it: ‘Already’ or ‘All Ready’?." Grammarflex, Jun 25, 2025, https://www.grammarflex.com/is-it-already-or-all-ready/.
Sources
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Already, Thesaurus.com
