the whole items

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "the whole items" is not correct in standard written English.
It is typically used incorrectly, as "whole" is not the appropriate adjective for "items." Example: "Please ensure that you include the whole items in your report."

⚠ May contain grammatical issues

Science

News & Media

Wiki

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

1 human-written examples

A total of 1455 out of 1556 participants completed the whole items in the GAD-7 questionnaire (response rate of 93.5 %).

BMC Psychiatry

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

59 human-written examples

If it's a big stain, then you could always bleach the whole item of clothing.

The Guardian - Lifestyle

Mix a dirty thing with a clean one and their "essences" combine to make the whole item taboo.

The New Yorker

She went on complaining - even emailing the editor-in-chief, Paul Dacre - and, eventually, the Mail took the whole item down, though - of course - the Google reference remains, as above.

The Guardian

Dr Neil Denby Denby Dale, West Yorkshire Your intriguing headline (Warning on co-sleeping with baby after death, 15 October) was lousy English, but good journalism in that I felt compelled to read the whole item so as to find out what on earth was going on.

The Guardian - Business

The whole item pool consisted of 217 questions.

Large-scale Assessments in Education

If we're going to make the web as fast as turning the page in a magazine, right, we're going to need to have a browser that really, you know, ultimately defines how quickly things can be displayed, how they're cached, how the whole item works.

TechCrunch

For items with insufficient discrimination, new distractors replacing the NF-D have to be generated before re-use - or the whole item has to be replaced.

BMC Medical Education

Furthermore, selected items should capture a broad range of depression severity similar to the range covered by the whole item bank.

Health and Quality of Life Outcomes

A subtest analysis using the correlated items was then undertaken to determine whether the internal consistency (Personal separation index and Cronbach alpha) of the whole item set was higher than for the subtest.

BMC Geriatrics

The internal consistency of the whole item pool (Cronbach's α = 0.789) and the respective subscales (Cronbach's α between 0.595 and 0.824) can be regarded as sufficient or even excellent.

BMC Women's Health

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When referring to a group of items in its entirety, use "the entire items" or "all of the items" instead of "the whole items" for grammatical correctness.

Common error

Avoid using "whole" directly before plural nouns like "items". "Whole" typically modifies singular, uncountable nouns. Use "entire", "complete", or rephrase to "all of the" to maintain grammatical accuracy.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "the whole items" functions as a determiner phrase intending to specify all the individual entities within a group of items. However, this phrase is considered grammatically incorrect due to the improper use of "whole" with a plural noun, as highlighted by Ludwig.

Expression frequency: Rare

Frequent in

Science

37%

News & Media

31%

Wiki

9%

Less common in

Formal & Business

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Reference

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, the phrase "the whole items" is grammatically incorrect and considered rare in standard English. Ludwig AI analysis indicates that "whole" is typically used with singular nouns, not plural nouns like "items". The intended meaning—to express completeness—can be better conveyed using alternatives such as "the entire items", "all of the items", or "the complete items". While its usage appears across various contexts, avoiding "the whole items" is advisable in formal writing to maintain grammatical correctness and clarity.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

the entire items

Replaces "whole" with "entire", emphasizing completeness without grammatical error.

the complete items

Uses "complete" instead of "whole", focusing on the items being finished or full.

all of the items

Emphasizes inclusion of every item, shifting from a sense of wholeness to totality.

the totality of the items

Replaces "whole" with "totality", which is more formal and emphasizes the entirety of the items considered as a collective.

every one of the items

Highlights each individual item as part of the entire group, stressing individual inclusion.

the sum of the items

Focuses on the aggregate value or content of all items considered together.

the full set of items

Specifies that all items belonging to a particular set are included.

the aggregate of the items

Similar to "sum", but emphasizes the collection or combination of the items.

the gross of the items

This option underlines the overall amount of items considered

the ensemble of items

Highlights that all items are part of a broader and complete collection

FAQs

What can I say instead of "the whole items"?

You can use alternatives like "the entire items", "the complete items", or "all of the items" depending on the context.

Which is correct, "the whole items" or "the entire items"?

"The entire items" is grammatically correct. "The whole items" is not standard English usage.

How can I use "the whole items" correctly in a sentence?

It's generally better to rephrase. Instead of "the whole items", consider "all of the items", "the complete set of items", or "the entire collection of items". For example: "All of the items were accounted for."

What's the difference between "the whole item" and "the whole items"?

"The whole item" is grammatically correct when referring to a single, complete item. For multiple items, use "all of the items" or "the entire set of items" instead of the incorrect "the whole items".