Completely, all, whole, everyone… The word ‘tout’ is used in many different situations. Or ‘toute’, ‘tous’, ‘toutes’. Sometimes you hear the ‘t’ or the ‘s’ at the end, but usually you do not. How does it work exactly? It is time for the rules!

Tout, tous, toute, toutes. These are the forms of tout: masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular, and feminine plural. Often, ‘tout’ changes along with the noun or the verb. ‘Tout’ can be a pronoun, an adjective, or an adverb.

Let us begin with the moments when ‘tout’ does not change.
If you mean ‘everything’, you always use ‘tout’.
– I want to know everything. – Je veux tout savoir.
– We understood everything. – On a tout compris.

As an adverb meaning ‘completely’ or ‘entirely’, ‘tout’ remains the same.
– That is a completely different question. – C’est une tout autre question.

Adjective
As an adjective, ‘tout’ can have three meanings: every, whole, or all.
– Every woman here can sing. – Chaque femme ici peut chanter. > Toute femme ici peut chanter.
– The whole class is sick. – La classe entière est malade. > Toute la classe est malade.
– All horses are great. – L’ensemble des chevaux sont superbes. > Tous les chevaux sont superbes.
Please note: the ‘s’ in ‘tous’ in the last example is NOT pronounced.

Adverb
If ‘tout’ is an adverb followed by a word starting with a consonant or an aspirated ‘h’ (haineux, honteux, handicapé), then ‘tout’ changes along with the noun.
– This dress is completely wrinkled. – Cette robe est toute chiffonée.
– The windows are very high. – Les fenêtres sont toutes hautes.

Pronoun
‘Tout’ changes when it is a pronoun that is always in the plural and means ‘all of them’.
The songs of Charles Aznavour, I have heard them all. – Les chansons de Charles Aznavour, je les ai toutes entendues.
The films of Jean-Luc Godard, I have seen them all. – Les films de Jean-Luc Godard, je les ai tous vu.
Please note: the ‘s’ in ‘tous’ in the last example IS pronounced.

Tout autre
Is ‘tout’ an adjective meaning ‘any other’? Then the word changes accordingly.
Any other woman would have done the same. – Toute autre femme aurait fait la même chose.