all of the people he used to talk to

[navi tasan]

Are these sentences correct:

1) He stopped talking to all of the people he used to talk to.
2) He stopped talking to everyone he used to talk to.


They mean he didn't talk to any of them any more, right?

They can't mean he stopped talking to some of them, can they?

Gratefully,
Navi

 

[emsr2d2]

Did you think it was remotely possible that they meant he only stopped talking to some of them? I'm just curious as to what prompted you to ask the question. The words "all of the people" and "everyone" should have been enough to allow you to work out the answer for yourself.

 

[Tdol]

They can't mean he stopped talking to some of them, can they

Not without further clarification, and even then it would be a weird way of saying something that could be expressed clearly and simply.

 

[navi tasan]

Thank you all very much,

Emsr2d2, you are correct, but sometimes I have these doubts and I can't do anything about them.

You see, if I say: He didn't take all of them.
that would mean that he took some of them.

Consider:
3) He stopped buying everything he liked.

How would you interpret that one? It has the same grammatical structure as '1' and '2' doesn't it? But does it work in the same way?

Respectfully,
Navi

 

[emsr2d2]

Your later examples use the negative. Your originals were in the positive. That makes all the difference.

He took all of them. (This cannot mean "He took some of them".)
He didn't take all of them. (This means "He took some of them".)