How do you say everyone in French?

Tout le monde, which literally means all the world. It takes a singular verb: tout le monde est là, tout le monde a compris. For a group you have already named, use tous or toutes instead: ils sont tous là.

Is tout le monde singular or plural?

Singular, grammatically. The verb, the adjective, the past participle and the possessive all agree with the masculine singular noun monde: tout le monde est content, tout le monde a pris son manteau.

Why is it tout le monde and not tous le monde?

Because tout is agreeing with monde, which is singular. Tous is the plural form and needs a plural noun after it: tous les gens, tous les jours. Tous le monde combines a plural adjective with a singular noun and cannot exist.

What is the difference between tout le monde and les gens?

Tout le monde is absolute: it claims that every single person is included. Les gens is looser and means people in general, often with a shade of most people. Compare tout le monde le sait with les gens le savent.

How do I say not everybody in French?

Put the negation around the verb: tout le monde n'est pas d'accord means not everybody agrees. Be careful not to read that as nobody agrees, which would be personne n'est d'accord.

French grammar · Beginner

Tout Le Monde: How to Say Everybody and Everyone in French

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

Everybody in French is tout le monde, literally all the world, and the phrase behaves as a singular even though it refers to a crowd. Its neighbours divide the work up differently: tous and toutes mean all of them, chacun means each one, and les gens covers people in general.

Tout le monde est déjà arrivé.

Everybody has already arrived.

What it is

French has no single word for everybody. It uses tout le monde, a noun phrase meaning the whole world, and because monde is a masculine singular noun the entire phrase counts as third person singular. Everything that agrees in the sentence — the verb, the possessive, the participle — follows monde, not the people it refers to.

Tout le monde a apporté son cadeau. — Everybody brought their present.

How to spot it

Treat tout le monde exactly as you would treat a name. If you would say Marc est arrivé, you say tout le monde est arrivé, with the same singular verb.

Tout le monde est content. — Everybody's happy.
Tout le monde sait ça. — Everybody knows that.
Tout le monde a compris. — Everybody understood.
Tout le monde s'est levé. — Everybody stood up.

The spelling is tout, singular, never tous. Tous le monde is one of the most frequent written slips learners make, and it is always wrong.

Tout le Monde Quick Reference

Ways of saying everyone, everybody and all

French	English	Agreement
tout le monde	everybody, everyone	singular: est, a, son
tous	all of them (masculine or mixed)	plural: ils sont tous venus
toutes	all of them (feminine)	plural: elles sont toutes là
chacun / chacune	each one	singular: chacun a son avis
les gens	people (in general)	plural: les gens disent
on	you, people, one	singular verb: on dit que…
tout	everything	singular: tout est prêt

Common Tout le Monde Examples in French

Tout le monde and its alternatives in ordinary use:

Tout Le Monde as Subject

Tout le monde parle de ce film.: Everybody's talking about that film.
Tout le monde était fatigué après le voyage.: Everybody was tired after the journey.
Tout le monde n'est pas d'accord.: Not everybody agrees.
Est-ce que tout le monde a fini ?: Has everybody finished?

The verb is singular in every case, and an adjective after it stays masculine singular: tout le monde est prêt.

Tout Le Monde as Object

Elle connaît tout le monde ici.: She knows everybody here.
J'ai invité tout le monde.: I invited everybody.
Ce prof est apprécié de tout le monde.: That teacher is liked by everyone.
Il parle à tout le monde de la même façon.: He talks to everyone the same way.

As an object it behaves like any noun phrase and can follow a preposition, which the pronoun tous cannot do so freely.

Tous and Toutes for a Known Group

Mes cousins sont tous venus.: All my cousins came.
Elles sont toutes parties avant la fin.: They all left before the end.
Tous ont voté pour la même proposition.: They all voted for the same proposal.
Je les ai tous prévenus.: I warned them all.

As a pronoun, the s of tous is pronounced. As an adjective in tous les jours it is silent, which is a useful listening clue.

Chacun and Les Gens

Chacun a son opinion là-dessus.: Everyone has their own opinion on it.
Chacune des candidates a présenté son projet.: Each of the candidates presented her project.
Les gens ne lisent plus les journaux.: People don't read newspapers any more.
On ne sait jamais.: You never know.

Chacun stresses the individuals one by one; tout le monde treats them as a single block.

How Tout Le Monde Agrees

Almost every question about this phrase is a question about agreement, and the answer is always monde.

The Verb Is Singular

Monde is a masculine singular noun, so tout le monde takes the third person singular: est, a, va, sait. The meaning is plural but French agrees with the grammar, not with the sense.

Tout le monde veut partir en vacances.

Everybody wants to go on holiday.

tout le monde est, never sont.

The Possessive Is Singular Too

Where English reaches for their, French uses son, sa or ses, agreeing with the thing possessed rather than the possessor. Tout le monde a son avis, tout le monde prend ses affaires.

Tout le monde a rangé ses affaires.

Everybody put their things away.

son, sa, ses — never leur.

Past Participles Stay Masculine Singular

With être or a reflexive verb, the participle agrees with tout le monde, which means no ending is added at all, even if the group is entirely female.

Tout le monde s'est bien amusé.

Everybody had a good time.

s'est amusé, not s'est amusés.

Tout Is Not Tous Here

In tout le monde, tout is an adjective agreeing with the singular masculine monde. Tous only appears before a plural noun (tous les jours) or as a pronoun standing for a plural group (ils sont tous là).

Tous les jours, tout le monde se plaint du métro.

Every day, everybody complains about the metro.

tout + singular, tous + plural.

Common Mistakes with Tout le Monde

Incorrect: Tout le monde sont contents. — Everybody's happy.

Correct: Tout le monde est content. — Everybody's happy.

Monde is a singular noun, so the verb and the adjective are singular. The plural meaning has no effect on the grammar.

Incorrect: Tous le monde est prêt. — Everybody's ready.

Correct: Tout le monde est prêt. — Everybody's ready.

Tout agrees with the singular monde, so it cannot take an s. Tous only appears before a plural noun, as in tous les étudiants.

Incorrect: Tout le monde a pris leurs affaires. — Everybody took their things.

Correct: Tout le monde a pris ses affaires. — Everybody took their things.

The possessive agrees with the singular subject, so it is ses. English their is singular in meaning here, and French makes that explicit.

Incorrect: Tout le monde n'est pas venu à la fête, la salle était vide. — Nobody came to the party, the room was empty.

Correct: Personne n'est venu à la fête, la salle était vide. — Nobody came to the party, the room was empty.

Negating tout le monde gives not everybody, not nobody. To say nobody, French uses the pronoun personne with ne.

Alternatives and Negatives

How to say everybody a different way, and how to say the opposite without falling into an English pattern.

Negating everybody

French does not negate tout le monde directly to mean nobody. Ne … pas around it gives not everybody, while nobody is a separate pronoun, personne, with its own ne.

Tout le monde n'est pas venu.: Not everybody came.
Personne n'est venu.: Nobody came.
Ce n'est pas tout le monde qui peut le faire.: Not everyone can do that.

The two sentences mean different things, and mixing them up changes the facts rather than just the style.

Tous and toutes as pronouns

When the group has already been named, French drops tout le monde and uses tous or toutes, which agree and usually sit after the verb or the auxiliary.

Les invités sont tous partis à minuit.: The guests all left at midnight.
Elles ont toutes réussi l'examen.: They all passed the exam.
Nous y sommes tous allés ensemble.: We all went there together.

The position is unusual for English speakers: the pronoun slots in after the auxiliary, not before the subject.

When French prefers on or les gens

For a general statement about what people do, French often uses on or les gens rather than tout le monde, which sounds more absolute.

En France, on dîne vers vingt heures.: In France people have dinner around eight.
Les gens sont pressés le matin.: People are in a hurry in the morning.
N'importe qui pourrait le faire.: Anybody could do it.

Tout le monde le sait claims that literally everyone knows; on le sait is a milder generalisation.

Tout le Monde FAQs

How do you say everyone in French?: Tout le monde, which literally means all the world. It takes a singular verb: tout le monde est là, tout le monde a compris. For a group you have already named, use tous or toutes instead: ils sont tous là.
Is tout le monde singular or plural?: Singular, grammatically. The verb, the adjective, the past participle and the possessive all agree with the masculine singular noun monde: tout le monde est content, tout le monde a pris son manteau.
Why is it tout le monde and not tous le monde?: Because tout is agreeing with monde, which is singular. Tous is the plural form and needs a plural noun after it: tous les gens, tous les jours. Tous le monde combines a plural adjective with a singular noun and cannot exist.
What is the difference between tout le monde and les gens?: Tout le monde is absolute: it claims that every single person is included. Les gens is looser and means people in general, often with a shade of most people. Compare tout le monde le sait with les gens le savent.
How do I say not everybody in French?: Put the negation around the verb: tout le monde n'est pas d'accord means not everybody agrees. Be careful not to read that as nobody agrees, which would be personne n'est d'accord.