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REFERENCE

everybody

pron.
A1 Beginner Oxford US //ˈɛvɹiˌbɑdi// UK //ˈɛvɹɪbˌɒdi// ev·ery·body General-service

pron. every person in a group. You use this when you are talking about all the people in a specific place or the whole world.

pron. every person; all people in a particular group or in general. Functions as a singular pronoun and requires a singular verb form despite referring to multiple people.


SIMPLE

Everybody in the room is listening to the music.

CONTEXTUAL

Everybody at the office was invited to the party, so the building was completely empty by five o'clock.

COMPLEX

While the policy was designed to benefit everybody, the administrative delays meant that only a fraction of the population received their payments on time.

Origin

From every + body.

Usage

Always takes a singular verb (e.g., 'everybody is' not 'everybody are').

Pitfall

Everybody are happyEverybody is happyDespite referring to a group of people, 'everybody' is grammatically singular and requires a singular verb.

Idioms1 entry

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