We use all (of) the (with an article), when we're talking about a specific group of the noun. When 'all' is a pronoun, it can come with both singular and plural nouns. When 'all' refers to a group of people/things as a unified whole, it comes with a singular verb, but when 'all' refers to multiple groups.
The meaning of all is the whole amount, quantity, or extent of. See ‘meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence. The whole of (used in referring to quantity, extent, or duration).
The governor mounted a halfhearted campaign for the presidency but didn't. When you talk about all of one thing, you mean the whole thing. See examples of all used in a sentence. Every one (of), or the complete amount or number (of), or the whole (of):
When we say all (of) the students, we're talking about a specific group of students. Games staking all of one's chips, as in poker. Discover everything about the word all in english: The whole number of (used in referring to individuals or particulars, taken collectively):
How to use all in a sentence. The whole of (used in referring to quantity, extent, or duration): When shakespeare writes, in as you like it, “ all the world's a stage,” he means the whole world.