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Which is it: ‘Already’ or ‘All Ready’?

All ready (two words) means "totally prepared" or ... ready. Already (one word) is an adverb that highlights something as having happened before now or by now.



Already vs. all ready

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 actually have different meanings, and should be used in the appropriate contexts.

Already vs. all ready (the difference + examples)

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 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 (oftentimes 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?

Synonyms of already

  • previously
  • earlier
  • by now
  • before
  • by now

Synonyms of all ready

Check out other commonly confused words

 

Sources

  1. Already, Thesuarus.com


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