Both gloves are drying in the sun
Both is a concept that can be used as an indefinite adjective or indefinite pronoun , always in the plural . The term is used when, considering a pair of elements, both are referred to : that is, one and the other .
two of two
As can be seen, the idea of both refers to two options or items when that is the total number existing or available . If there are three alternatives and someone chooses two, one cannot speak of “both alternatives,” because it is impossible to know which ones are being pointed to.
In our language we have a single term that serves to refer to more than two elements with this same meaning: "all" or "all" , depending on the gender. Whether there are three or a thousand, there is no word for each case, beyond the one mentioned in the previous paragraph. However, if the number is close to two, we probably won't use this one, because it gives the idea of a large quantity .
For example: "They have both left, Juan and Pedro" , " All three of them have called me: Juan, Pedro and Marta" , "I have seen them all " (if there are many more) . The precise number can be used even if it is very high, but only if the interlocutor knows them all individually and wants confirmation that the entire set has performed the action: "I have checked twice, and I can confirm that the fifty-two children are safe .
The opposite occurs if the exact number is not known or if the interlocutor is not aware of it. When talking about an entire town, or even a neighborhood, the number of people is not cited unless it is relevant to the message: "all the neighbors are demonstrating." On the other hand, in tragic news it is common to point out the exact number of victims and accident victims to highlight the severity : "so far there are thirteen injured and forty-five dead."
In context
Suppose a young man enters a clothing store and tries on two pants , one black and the other blue . As he leaves the fitting room, the salesperson asks him which one he will take and the boy answers “both.” In this way he indicates that he will buy the black pants and the blue pants .
Let's take the case of a novelist who, so far, has presented two books . These works were published through Editorial Mundilitario . Therefore, it can be stated that both books were edited by Mundilitario .
Not to be confused with "sendos"
The term both has the following meaning: "one for each of a set of subjects or objects." It is also synonymous with "respective" or "corresponding." We can say "My house and yours have separate gardens" ("a garden each ") or "They delivered all the packages to us with separate invoices" ("their respective invoices").
Both shoes are with the rest of the clothes
In no case does it function as a synonym for "both" or "both", even though they are confused in everyday speech. In fact, in the following sentence we can see both words at the same time: "They both left very early in their respective cars."
a suit
The notion of both can also appear as the plural of the noun ambo . In several South American countries, an ambo is a suit composed of pants and a jacket worn by men. For example: "In the closet I have four or five both, you can choose the one you like the most and I'll lend it to you" , "I don't like the both that they offered me in this place, I'm going to keep looking" , "The players wore their “both shining at the party organized by the president of the club to celebrate winning the championship.”