All Together vs. Altogether

How to use "all together" and "altogether" correctly

This is an entry on my list of Common Errors in English Usage. Visit the main page for direct links to additional entries.

Altogether means either “completely” or “in total”; all together means “all in a group”:

altogether in one place for the first time in years
all together in one place for the first time in years

an altogether different situation” (= “a completely different situation”)

Common Errors in English Usage: Errors in diction and idiom commonly made by native speakers of English

List of Common Errors in English Usage (PDF): Printable version of the complete list

Common Grammar Errors: A list of common errors in grammar (topics like subject-verb agreement and parallelism) as distinct from usage