all the/the whole morning

[ofriendragon]

I’ve been waiting here____ morning; they haven’t showed up yet.
A. all the
B. the whole
C. whole
D. the all
The answer is B

Is all the morning a wrong expression? What's the difference between all the + noun. and the whole + noun?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[LV4-26]

Hello ofriendragon
All the morning doesn't work here, but all morning -- i.e., without the article -- does. ==>
I've been waiting here all morning...

And I can see no difference between all morning and the whole morning in this context.

Wait for more answers, though.

 

[Loob]

I agree with LV4-26.

It's "all morning" (and "all afternoon", "all day", "all night").

 

[Lexiphile]

Why can I not imagine myself ever saying "I've been waiting here the whole morning"? It would always be "...all morning."
I have no problem at all with "I've been waiting here the whole day." Or "...all day." Somehow a morning doesn't seem to me to be a precise enough unit of time to be "whole."

 

[ofriendragon]

Many thanks.

 

[Dimcl]

Why can I not imagine myself ever saying "I've been waiting here the whole morning"? It would always be "...all morning."

And I would have absolutely no problem saying "the whole morning" (which is obviously what the answer is in OFD's sample). To me, it's no different than saying "the entire morning".

 

[Lexiphile]

And I would have absolutely no problem saying "the whole morning" (which is obviously what the answer is in OFD's sample). To me, it's no different than saying "the entire morning".

Ah-ha! And I would also have no problem with "the entire morning."
Perhaps it has not to do with the imprecision of "morning" but rather with the fact that "the whole morning" just doesn't sound as good or is more difficult (less easy!) to enunciate.