Todo In Spanish is one of the most common words we use in our daily life to express our ideas. Generally translated as all or everything, or even the whole or the entire, todo in Spanish can be used as an adjective, a pronoun, or an adverb.  Like other adjectives and pronouns, todo in Spanish changes form to agree with the number and gender of the noun it describes.

Let’s start with a few examples:

• You’re everything I need in my life. – Eres todo lo que necesito en mi vida.
• Everyone who lives in my house should follow my rules. – Todos los que viven en mi casa deberían seguir mis reglas.
• The entire country is worried about social problems. – Todo el país está preocupado por los problemas sociales.
• All the girls of the school are invited to my birthday party. – Todas las chicas de la escuela están invitadas para mi fiesta de cumpleaños.

As you can see, the use of todo changes according to the context and the idea we want to express.  Before moving on to its various meanings though, let’s start with the four forms of todo in Spanish.

Forms of Todo in Spanish

Todo: masculine singular

• Everything is clear now. – Todo está claro ahora.
• I want everything in order. – Yo quiero que todo esté en orden.

Todos: masculine plural

• All of the students are approved. – Todos los estudiantes están aprobados.
• We should congratulate all the workers for their great performance this year. – Debemos felicitar a todos los trabajadores por el gran desempeño en este año.

Toda: feminine singular

• We have to clean the whole house. – Nosotros tenemos que limpiar toda la casa.
• I’ve been waiting for this moment all my life. – He estado esperando por este momento toda mi vida.

Todas: feminine plural

• All the houses in my neighborhood are beautiful. – Todas las casas de mi vecindario son hermosas.
• All my daughters are already married. – Todas mis hijas ya están casadas.

Looking closer at the previous examples, did you notice that the different forms of todo in Spanish were used both as adjectives and as pronouns?  Let’s take a look at each of these uses in the next sections.

Todo as an adjective

As an adjective, todo can come either directly before the noun, or usually before the definite article that comes before a noun. In this usage, todo is typically the equivalent of the English all before a plural noun or every or each before a singular noun. When it comes before a singular noun, todo can also be used similarly to the English phrases all of or the entire.

• I’m thinking about you all the time. – Todo el tiempo estoy pensando en ti.
• All the kids are playing in the garden. – Todos los niños están jugando en el jardín.
• Every player is on the court. – Todos los jugadores están en la cancha.
• My son ate the whole cake. – Mi hijo se comió toda la torta.
• All my things are in my room. – Todas mis cosas están en mi cuarto.

Todo as a pronoun

As a pronoun, todo and its variations normally have the meaning of all or everything,  although sometimes the context may require other translations. In these examples, remember that todo is an indefinite pronoun, which means we’re not speaking about specific people or things.

• Everything is possible in this life. – Todo es posible en esta vida.
• All of us were at Pedro’s house last night. – Todos estábamos en casa de Pedro anoche.
• Everything has been very hard this year. – Todo ha sido muy difícil durante este año.
• This great achievement is thanks to all of us. – Este gran logro es gracias a todos nosotros.

Note that like other pronouns, todo can be used both as a subject or as a complement within the sentence:

• Everyone is busy. (subject) – Todos están ocupados.
• This document was checked by everyone yesterday. (complement) – Este documento fue revisado por todos ayer.

Todo as an adverb

When used as an adverb, todo is most often utilized to make strong assertions. Its translations in this form include really, completely, all, or totally.

• The horse on my farm was running really fast. – El caballo de mi granja corría a toda velocidad.
• The city woke up all covered in snow. – La ciudad amaneció toda cubierta de nieve.
• My room is all messy. I have to clean this afternoon. – Mi habitación está toda desordenada. Debo limpiar esta tarde.
• Carry on straight, all the way. – Siga todo recto.
• I was all nervous before the exam. – Yo estaba todo nervioso antes del examen.

Expressions with Todo

In addition to the standard uses described in the previous sections, a lot of common idiomatic expressions are based around todo in Spanish.  You’re bound to hear a lot of these expressions as you use Spanish in everyday life:

• Everyone – Todo el mundo
• Almost everything – Casi todo
• Anyway – De todas formas
• Above all – Sobre todo
• First of all, primarily, especially, before all else – Ante todo
• Despite everything, In spite of everything – A pesar de todo
• Nevertheless, Despite everything – Así y todo
• Under all circumstances – En todo y por todo
• With absolute certainty – Con toda certeza
• At full speed, at full force – A toda velocidad
• At the top of her lungs – A todo pulmón

Are you ready for a few examples?

• Almost everything is ready for the party. – Casi todo está listo para la fiesta.

• In spite of everything, the situation got much better. – A pesar de todo, la situación mejoró bastante.
• We should pay attention to every class, primarily Spanish class. – Debemos prestar atención a todas las clases, sobre todo a la clase de español.

Exercises

Now that you’ve seen todo used in a bunch of contexts, why don’t you try completing the following sentences using the right form of todo in Spanish:

1. We are all happy. – _____ estamos felices.
2. My whole life is a mess. – _____ mi vida es un desastre.
3. You need to tell me the whole truth. – Debes contarme _____ la verdad.
4. This gift is from all of us. – Este regalo viene de parte de _____ nosotros.
5. You are my whole life. – Tú eres _____ mi vida.
6. The whole house is messy. – _____ la casa está desordenada.
7. Who ate all the food? – ¿Quién se comió _____ la comida?
8. All that glitters is not gold. – No _____ lo que brilla es oro.
9. My dog likes to sprint at full speed through the park. – A mi perro le gusta correr a _____ velocidad por el parque.
10. María slept all night on the sofa. – María durmió _____ la noche en el sofá.

Here are the answers.  How did you fare in your use of todo in Spanish?

1. Todos estamos felices.
2. Toda mi vida es un desastre.
3. Debes contarme toda la verdad.
4. Este regalo viene de parte de todos nosotros.
5. Tú eres toda mi vida.
6. Toda la casa está desordenada.
7. ¿Quién se comió toda la comida?
8. No todo lo que brilla es oro.
9. A mi perro le gusta correr a toda velocidad por el parque.
10. María durmió toda la noche en el sofá.

Conclusion

As we’ve just seen, todo in Spanish is one of those words we see used in so many contexts.  Its four forms are easy enough to recognize and use, while the examples we’ve just looked at will hopefully help you understand its meaning when you hear todo in everyday conversations.

Well that’s all!  And now? Are you ready to recognize and use this word in all of its forms, in all contexts? – Bueno, ¡Eso es todo! ¿Y ahora? ¿¡Estás listo a reconocer y utilizar esta palabra en todas sus formas y en todos sus contextos!?