皆

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 皆 is a nominal or pronominal expression read みな, meaning everyone or all members of a group.
• Basic usage: It can form a condition involving everyone moving a desk together or identify everyone as applauding after a presentation.
  • 皆で机を運べばすぐに終わる。 says that moving the desk together will let everyone finish quickly; 発表が終わると皆が拍手してくれた。 says that everyone applauded when the presentation ended.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• 皆で運べば
  • で presents everyone as the participating group, and ば connects that condition to finishing quickly.
• 皆が拍手する
  • が marks everyone as the people who applauded after the presentation.
• 皆 and 全員
  • 皆 commonly means everyone or everything in a set, while 全員 explicitly denotes every person in a group.