tout

'tout' as an adjective

Tout means 'all' or 'every' when it modifies a noun. It agrees in number and gender with the noun that follows.

These forms of tout are most often used with the definite articles le, les, la, l', but they may also be used with a possessive determiner: tous mes poèmes (all my poems), toute sa vie (all his/her life) etc.  Here is a poem by a dramatic teenager: 

*Note that the final s of tous is not pronounced when it is used as an adjective.

Tout or toute may also be used without an article to mean 'every.'

'tout' as a pronoun

Tout is invariable (doesn’t change with what it modifies) when it functions as the indefinite pronoun meaning 'everything' or 'all', as in the first sentence below.

The plural pronouns tous and toutes agree with the nouns they replace. Compare the examples below.

*Note that the final s in the pronoun tous is pronounced, in contrast to the unpronounced s in tous as an adjective.

'tout' as an adverb

Tout may also be an adverb meaning 'all,' 'completely,' or 'quite' when it modifies another adverb, a preposition, or an adjective. Although tout is invariable before an adverb, a preposition or a masculine adjective, the feminine forms toute and toutes are used before feminine adjectives beginning with a consonant.

tout in common idiomatic phrases

Here is a list of common idiomatic phrases with tout: