Each vs every
In English, the Danish pronoun ‘hver’ can be translated with both ‘each’ and ‘every’. But when should you use one over the other?
In many cases, the difference is so slight that you can use both interchangeably:
- Each student was provided a laptop to facilitate learning.
- Every student was provided a laptop to facilitate learning.
However, there is a fundamental difference:
| 'Each' means 'each one'. 'Every' means 'every one' or 'all'. |
More specifically, ‘each’ is used to highlight the individual people, things, etc. in a group, while ‘every’ is used to describe the group as a whole. ‘Each’ is used when there are two or more elements, while ‘every’ requires a minimum of three elements. Only ‘each’ can be used before 'of':
- Each of the PhD students had to prepare a presentation.
'Every' is often used with time expressions. Here ’each’ works in the same way, but is less common:
- Every Monday, we have a team meeting to look at the week ahead.
- We have a meeting each week.