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How to use the word весь in Russian?

By: Olga Maroz Tue Sep 23 2025
Russian
Adjectives, Pronouns, Grammar Tips

The Russian word весь[vyes] roughly means "all." However, it can be translated with a variety of similar words, like "the entire," "the whole," "everything," or "everyone," depending on how it is used in a sentence. Like the word "all" in English, весь can either be used as an (e.g. "all week") or as a (e.g. "All was quiet"). For example:

Modifier
Pronoun form

Весь день мы гуляли по городу.

vyes dyen my gooLYAli pa GOradoo

We walked around the city all day.

Всё будет хорошо!

fsyo BOOdit kharaSHO

Everything will be fine!

Все люди хотят быть счастливыми.

fsye LYUdi khaTYAT byt shchaSLEEvymi

All people want to be happy.

Мы поговорили со всеми.

my pagavaREEli sa FSYEmi

We spoke to everyone.

Are you ready to learn about all the different ways to use весь in Russian? Let's start by looking at how to use it as an adjective, then we'll look at how to use it as a pronoun. Follow me!

How to use весь as an adjective?

When the word весь[vyes](all) is used before a noun, it is functioning as an adjective: it specifies that you're talking about the entirety of the noun it precedes. In this use, you'll often see the word весь[vyes] with another synonym like - "the whole," or "a complete," or "the entire."

  • весь дом

    vyes dom

    (the) entire house

  • вся страна

    fsya straNA

    (the) whole country

  • все свое умение

    fsyo svaYO ooMYEniye

    (the) entire skill

  • все книги

    fsye KNEEgi

    all books

It usually describes the noun that follows it, and has grammatical features similar to adjectives. It has gender, number and case features, in which they agree with the noun to which they refer. Let’s look at the chart.

Masculine
Neuter
Feminine
Plural
Nominative

весь[vyes]

всё[fsyo]

вся[fsya]

все[fsye]

Accusative (inanimate)

весь[vyes]

всё[fsyo]

всю[fsya]

все[fsye]

Accusative (animate)

всего[vyiVO]

всех[fsyekh]

Genitive

всего[vyiVO]

всей[fsyey]

всех[fsyekh]

Dative

всему[vyiMOO]

всем[fsyem]

Instrumental

всем[vsyem]

всеми[FSYEmi]

Prepositional

всём[vsyom]

всех[fsyekh]

Now let’s go through some examples below and try to observe how the word весь[vyes] agrees with the noun that follows it:

  • Весь день мы искали номера телефонов всех друзей.

    vyes dyen my isKAli namiRA tiliFOnaf fsyekh drooZYEY

    We spent the whole day looking for the phone numbers of all our friends.

  • Вся жизнь была полна всеми земными радостями.

    fsya zhyzn byLA palNA FSYEmi zimNYmi RAdastyami

    My entire life was full of all earthly joys.

  • Все студенты не знают всю грамматику.

    fsye stooDYENty ni ZNAyut fsyu graMAtikoo

    All students don’t know all the grammar.

  • За всё это время они поговорили обо всех новостях.

    za fsyo Eta VRYEmya aNEE pagavaREEli aba VSYEKH navaSTYAKH

    During all this time they talked about all the news.

Tip

The word весь[vyes] can be translated into English in different ways:

  • All/every/each when the noun that follows is plural, For example:

    все страны

    fsye STRAny

    all countries / each country / every country

  • (the) whole or (the) entire when the noun that follows is singular, For example:

    вся страна

    fsya straNA

    (the/a) whole country / (the/an) entire country

How to use весь as a pronoun?

In certain contexts, the pronoun весь[vyes] can be translated as “everything” or “everyone” and functions in the sentence as subject or object replacing a noun. In the meaning of "everything" весь[vyes] declines like a neuter noun: всё[fsoy], and when you want to say "everyone" you'll decline it like a plural one: все[fsye]. Let’s look at the chart.

Nominative
всё[fsyo](everything)
все[fsye](everyone)
Accusative

всё[fsyo]

всех[fsyekh]

Genitive

всего[fsiVO]

всех[fsyekh]

Dative

всему[fsiMOO]

всем[fsyem]

Instrumental

всем[fsyem]

всеми[FSYEmi]

Prepositional

всём[fsyom]

всех[fsyekh]

In Russian, you can describe the pronoun весь[vyes] with a descriptive phrase, just like we say "everything in the world" or "everyone taller than me" in English. Now let’s look at some examples:

Case
Example

Nominative

  • Всё хорошо, не волнуйтесь!

    fsyo kharaSHO, ni valNOOYtis

    Everything is fine, do not worry!

  • Все должны знать правду о том, что случилось.

    fsye dalZHNY znat PRAVdoo a tom, shto slooCHEElas

    Everyone needs to know the truth about what happened.

Accusative

  • Спасибо за всё!

    spaSEEba za fsyo

    Thanks for everything!

  • Все должны знать правду о том, что случилось.

    Eta praBLYEma bispaKOit fsyekh v NAshem GOradye

    This problem worries everyone in our city.

Genitive

  • У всех сегодня есть интернет.

    oo fsyekh siVODnya yest interNYET

    Everyone has the Internet today.

  • Как жить без всего?

    kak zhyt bis fsiVO

    How to live without anything?

    lit. How to live without everything?

Prepositional

Ну, рассказывайте обо всём и обо всех по порядку.

noo, rasKAzyvaytye aba FSYOM ee aba FSYEKH pa paRYATkoo

Well, tell me about everything and everyone in order/one thing at a time.

Dative

  • Я так скучаю по всем.

    ya tak skooCHAyu pa fsyem

    I miss everyone so much.

  • Очень трудно привыкать ко всему новому.

    Ochin TROODna privyKAT ka fsiMOO Novamoo

    It's very difficult to get used to everything new.

Instrumental

  • Мы довольны всем.

    my daVOLny fsyem

    We are happy with everything.

  • Мы сотрудничаем со всеми.

    my saTROODnichaim sa FSYEmi

    We cooperate with everyone.

Important

The prepositions в[v], к[k], с[s], etc. will acquire a final letter о[o] before the words весь[vyes](all/whole/entire), все[fsye](everyone), and всё[fsyo](everything) to ease pronunciation. Additionally, the preposition о[o] will turn into обо[aba].

  • Во всём мире

    va fsyom MEErye

    worldwide

    lit. in the whole world

  • Плюс ко всему

    plyus ka fsiMOO

    in addition

    lit. plus to everything

  • Поговорить со всеми и обо всём

    pagavaREET sa FSYEmi i aba FSYOM

    to talk to everyone and about everything

Important

Unlike in English, the Russian pronoun все[fsye](everyone) is plural and requires plural agreement with the verb. For example:

  • Все знают о проблеме.

    fsye ZNAyut a praBLYEmye

    Everyone knows about the problem.

    lit. Everyone know...

  • Все читали об этом.

    fsye chiTAli ab Etam

    Everyone read about it.

  • Все будут помнить.

    fsye BOOdoot POMnit

    Everyone will remember.

Luckily the pronounвсё[fsyo](everything) functioning as a pronoun is singular, though, so when you use it in this sense, the number is what you would expect from English.

Всё было спокойно.

Fsyo BYla spaKOYna

Everything was calm.

Tip

Quite often two dots over the letter ё[yo] are not included in any typed document unless it’s a Russian language textbook. So the pronouns “everything” and “everyone” will look the same - все[fse/fsyo]. Context usually helps to understand which one is which.

Summary

  • The pronoun весь[vyes](all/whole/entire) is used to describe or modify nouns and is often used to indicate the entirety of something.

  • The pronoun changes based on the gender number and role of the noun it goes together with.

  • The pronoun весь[vyes] has forms всё[fsyo](everything) and все[fsye](everyone) functioning as subject or object in the sentence. These pronouns also change their forms (cases) based on their role in the sentence.

Ready to practice what you've learned? Check out these practice exercises!

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