Stop dancing like that. it looks like I could have my way (oh-my way)" This is the same thing that happens in English too. Take something as simple as an imperative: "Do not swim in the river". The subject is not singular, but the verb is still "inclusive" because of the particle "do". "To all boys in class 6B" or "to all students in class 6B" are never a thing. The reason for "no boys left" is not because the speaker had the intention to leave out boys. Even if he did (some people use "boy" to refer to both sexes), the expression "left out" remains the same. The speaker left out no one, because to say that boys were excluded is the same as saying that students were excluded. This kind of thing does not happen with other subjects. Take: "a doctor and his wife". The noun phrases (NPs) before the coordinating conjunction will be plural: "To all students in class 6B and to all doctors in city X" However, when we use an extra conjunction, such as "and" or "or", this does not happen: "To all students in class 6B and to all doctors in city X or something" "All students in class 6B and all doctors in city X or something" In the second example, the conjunctions need to be followed by singular pronouns to convey the intended sense. So if you were to say "All students in class 6B and all doctors in city X" with plural nouns, you are saying "All students and all doctors". "If I see a single boy in class 6B, I will eat him!" If you are using this as an interjection, it sounds like you are saying "eating" in an aggressive way. Maybe you could have said, "If I see a single boy in class 6B, I will bite him!" instead. Conclusion I can understand why some Japanese don't understand English. But the reasoning given here is very unnatural. You would not, in any other language, get the feeling that you have to say "the-singular-thing-before-or" to convey the correct sense in a particular case. With Japanese, the word for a person and the word for everyone are so closely related that it feels awkward to use plural pronouns, like in English. A: That might be a way of thinking about the words of the statement, but the meaning itself of "to all" does not mean that. In this case, for instance, that means "to everyone in class 6B", that means "all of the students in class 6B" (as opposed to just one). In other words, it is about how you do something, not that you are doing something to everyone. In such a case, plural works fine. It is similar to English "everybody" as in "everybody's parents were away". You might say "everybody's parents are away" or "everybody is gone", but they do not mean the same thing. "Everybody" means all. The reason that a plural object works better is not because we are using the verb with a singular subject, it is because there is a closer correlation between the objects. A: "All" should always be used as a singular even though in English the subject is plural. In Japanese it's no different, so it doesn't need "all" as plural. 私達は彼女と[all]数日会いました We met with her for [all] a couple of days 今夜彼女と[all]数時間話をした We talked with her for [all] an hour This seems counter-intuitive when you're reading these sentences, but you can see why it makes sense in speech. If you say {彼女}と{数日会いました} it may be easy to imagine someone who only talked to her for one day. If you use a plural object, it's as if you're saying "each of us met with her for a couple of days". 彼ら{は}彼女{と}と{数日会いました} is saying that each one met with her for a couple of days. 彼女{と}は{数日会いました} implies each girl met with her for a day. 彼女{と}は{数日会いました} is saying that she met with them for a couple of days. 彼女{と}は{数日会いました} implies that she only met with her. When you're speaking you have to watch these extra distinctions. It may not be immediately obvious, but you can avoid sounding too "personal" by choosing an appropriate one. 彼女{と}を[all]{個}数日会っています We're meeting her for {all} a couple of days 彼女{と}は{all}{個}数時間話をしている She's talking to us for {all} an hour 彼女は彼女{と}に{all}数日会った He talked to her for {all} a couple of days 彼女と私達は数日会っています We're meeting her for {all} a couple of days