Have you ever wondered how to express “everything” in Japanese? There are several ways — subete, zenbu, mina, marugoto, arayuru, zentai, zettai — and each conveys a specific type of totality: things, people, complete ideas, abstract concepts, or even the feeling of “everything indeed, without exception.”
In this article, you will understand the real meaning of each word, their differences, when to use them, and also the most common slips that confuse beginners and even intermediate students. The idea is simple: to help you use each term naturally, without memorizing impossible rules.
Table of Contents
1. 全て – subete “everything” in a broad and formal way
Subete is usually written in hiragana (すべて) in everyday life, but its kanji conveys the idea of “everything in general,” in a more conceptual way. It is a gentle, comprehensive word and is often used in formal, written, or more elegant contexts.
It describes totality in the abstract sense: everything in the world, everything that exists, all hope, all humanity. Use subete when the sentence has a general, poetic, academic, or philosophical tone.
神の目には人はすべて平等である。
Kami no me ni wa hito wa subete byōdō de aru;
In the eyes of God, all men are equal.
すべてのバスは満員です。
Subete no basu wa man'in desu;
All the buses are full.
その男はすべての希望を失った。
Sono otoko wa subete no kibō o ushinatta;
The man lost all hope.
お金がすべてではない。
Okane ga subete de wa nai;
Money is not everything.
全ての人間は平等である。
Subete no ningen wa byōdō de aru;
Every human being is equal.
それが全てです。
Sore ga subete desu;
That is everything.
If you want to be sure which word is more correct in a sentence, just paste part of it into Google and see which one appears more results using the locator (CTRL + F).
全部 – zenbu – “everything” concrete, direct, everyday
Zenbu is the most common word in everyday life, used for things you can count, grab, finish, consume, or sum up. It is the “everything” of lists, objects, money, quantities, tasks — practical and concrete situations.
What do you think about studying some example sentences?
彼は本を全部読んだ。
Kare wa hon o zenbu yonda;
He read the book from cover to cover.
This sentence can also indicate the whole book or all the books. However, the word 全部 (zenbu) can indicate the whole part of something.
それは全部で１００ドルでした。
Sore wa zenbu de 100-doru deshita;
It was a total of 100 dollars.
Using 全部 to indicate the totality of an amount spent.
我々は全部で、７人です。
Wareware wa zenbu de nananin desu;
We are a total of 7 people.
This sentence uses 全部 to say the totality of a group.
生徒は全部で何人ですか？
Seito wa zenbu de nanijin desu ka?
What is the total number of students?
The Kanji for Everything [全]
Notice that both words are composed with the kanji (全) which means whole, everything, and complete. Various words use this ideogram such as:
- Encyclopedia – 大全 – taizen
- Not everything, nothing – 全然 – zenzen
- All members – 全員 – zen-in
- Every country – 全国 – zenkoku
- Whole, totally, certainly – 全体 – zentai
- Annihilation, total destruction – 全滅 – zenmetsu
- The whole school – 全校 – zenkou
The kanji (全) is also present in a commonly used verb to express exasperation (mataku – 全く) which means really, entirely, indeed, and completely. For this reason, we must be careful when trying to use the words zenbu or subete when there is already another word or expression that indicates the totality of something.
What are the differences between subete and zenbu?
We can start by saying that subete (全て) is a word of Japanese origin while zenbu (全部) is composed only with ideograms and came from Chinese origin. The word zenbu is also composed with kanji (部) which indicates section, department, part, portion, component, and element. In other words, the word zenbu indicates the whole part or every element. Remembering that the word subete is usually written in hiragana すべて.
It is believed that subete is a gentler word, while zenbu seems to be more objective. Subete in some cases can sound more beautiful and poetic. Both can be used as nouns, but only subete (全て) can be used as an adverb. Although there is no proof of this, subete is used in more formal situations than zenbu. Zenbu tends to be frequently used to refer to money, counting, and numbers.
Subete is a slightly more advanced vocabulary than zenbu, it is common for a 3 or 4-year-old child to say zenbu when they want all the toys, but by the age of 10 they may start saying subete. Zenbu tends to be more used for everything that is finite or has a limit. It is common to hear zenbu (全部) more frequently than subete (全て). Zenbu feels more complete while subete feels more like everything, everyone. Zenbu tends to be frequently used to refer to money, counting, and numbers.
The word 全部 is not appropriate to use to indicate a group of people. We can conclude that すべて and 全部 are interchangeable in many situations. However, すべて tends to be more used in general themes, abstract ideas, or something academic.
5. 皆 / みんな – “everyone” (for people)
みんな is used exclusively to refer to groups of people, never to objects. It works in casual and natural contexts, such as when we talk about friends, colleagues, students, or any human collective.
When someone says みんな, the focus is on the whole group as a unit, without emphasis on each individual separately. It is the most common and direct way to say “everyone” when the subject involves people.
Example: みんな来たよ。– minna kita yo. – Everyone has arrived.
丸ごと – “completely”
丸ごと conveys the idea of something whole, complete, without division. It is great when you want to emphasize that something was consumed, done, or experienced in total, without separating parts.
It is a very visual word, used for both physical objects and complete experiences, such as traveling, visiting places, or enjoying something from start to finish.
Example: 日本を丸ごと楽しみたい。– nihon o marugoto tanoshimitai. – I want to enjoy Japan completely.
有らゆる – “each and every one”
有らゆる gives the feeling of distributed totality, where each individual element matters. It is more formal and resembles the “every” in English, being widely used in explanatory texts and more elaborate speeches.
When you use 有らゆる, you are saying that not only the whole group matters, but also each item that composes it, one by one.
Example: 有らゆる可能性。– arayuru kanōsei. – All possibilities.
全体 – “the whole, the totality”
全体 represents the complete set of something, the sum of the parts forming a single body. It does not mean “everything” loosely, but rather “the whole” of something that has structure.
It is ideal for contexts that involve percentage, general analysis, or description of a set, such as the human body, organization, or statistical group.
Example: 全体の3％。– zentai no san-pāsento. – 3% of the total.
絶対 – “absolutely”
絶対 does not mean “everything,” but conveys an idea of totality in the sense of absolute certainty. It expresses something definitive, non-negotiable, and 100% guaranteed or impossible.
It can indicate determination (“I will go anyway!”) or absolute denial (“there’s no way”). It is emotional, emphatic, and widely used in speech.
Example: 絶対行く！– zettai iku! – I will go anyway!
全然 – “nothing / totally”
全然 is an interesting word because its usage has changed. Traditionally it means “not at all,” but in modern conversation, it also means “totally” when used with affirmative sentences.
The context and tone define which meaning is being conveyed. With negative → “nothing”; with positive → “super / totally”.
Example: 全然分からない。– zenzen wakaranai. – I don’t understand anything.
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