"Always" or "all this time"

[Rachel Adams]

Is it better to use "always" instead of "all this time"?

1."All this time the plantations have belonged to one family."

2. "The plantations have always belonged to one family."

 

[Yankee]

Absent any context, I prefer 2. But 1. could work if the "time", up to the present had been detailed previously.

 

[GoesStation]

Is it better to use "always" instead of "all this time"?

1."All this time the plantations have belonged to one family."

2. "The plantations have always belonged to one family."

It depends on what you want to say. They don't mean the same thing.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Absent any context, I prefer 2. But 1. could work if the "time", up to the present had been detailed previously.

No, it hasn't been mentioned.

 

[Rachel Adams]

It depends on what you want to say. They don't mean the same thing.

Could you please explain the difference?

 

[GoesStation]

Could you please explain the difference?

All this time: from a previously-mentioned time until now.

Always should be self-explanatory: it has never belonged to anyone else.