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for all

despite

  • For all its clarity of style, the book is not easy reading.

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with

  1. because of a situation that exists
  • With John away there’s more room in the house.
  • I can’t do my homework with all this noise going on.

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The "all" in "For all its clarity of style" emphasizes that the style is very clear.
I wonder what the "all" in "with all this noise going on" means.

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5

In the second example, 'all' means that there is a lot (in this case of noise).

So:

"I don't feel comfortable with all these people watching"

Means that the speaker feels that there are a lot (too many) people watching for them to feel comfortable.

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3

In the second sentence, "all" indicates that there's a lot of noise, and it's the amount of noise that's the problem.

Without "all", it sounds as if there's something in the nature of the noise itself that's the problem --like how distracting or irritating that particular noise is-- rather than how loud the noise is.

I can’t do my homework with this noise going on.

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8
  • Thank you very much. I have one more question. It seems to me that the use of the "all" in "with all this noise going on" doesn't matches any of the senses of "all" in the oxfordlearnersdictionary. (www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com) I wonder about the reason.
    – Aaaaaaassssss
    Nov 21, 2022 at 20:00
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    The definition here is closest to "the whole amount of". Consider: "I can't do my homework with the whole amount of this noise going on." It's a bit wordy, but the meaning is correct.
    – gotube ♦
    Nov 21, 2022 at 20:03
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    @Aaaaaaassssss Have you checked a good dictionary like Merriam-Webster
    – gotube ♦
    Nov 25, 2022 at 17:54
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    @Aaaaaaassssss I don't think so. "All" cannot modify the pronoun "it" as an adjective. Search the page for "for all" to find my choice.
    – gotube ♦
    Nov 25, 2022 at 20:54
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    @Aaaaaaassssss I think it's the same as pronoun 1 b : used ... to indicate a lack of knowledge, interest, or effectiveness. It means, even though the book has very clear style, it is not easy to read. In other words, the clear style wasn't effective in making the book easy to read.
    – gotube ♦
    Nov 27, 2022 at 0:45

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