Have you ever wondered whether to write “all-time favorite” or “all times”? These expressions look similar, but they serve different purposes in English. Choosing the wrong one can change your sentence’s meaning or make it sound unnatural.
The confusion often comes from the words all, time, and favorite. Although these words appear in both expressions, they don’t work together in the same way. One describes something you love more than anything else, while the other refers to multiple occasions or instances.
For example, you might call a particular movie your all-time favorite because you’ve enjoyed it more than any other movie. However, if you’re talking about several occasions when you visited a place, you might use the phrase all times in an appropriate sentence.
Understanding the difference doesn’t require complicated grammar rules. Once you know what each expression means and how to use it, you’ll find it much easier to choose the correct wording in everyday conversations, school assignments, emails, and blog posts.
Quick Answer
“All-time favorite” is the correct expression when describing something you like more than anything else. The hyphenated phrase refers to a person’s greatest or most enduring preference. In contrast, “all times” refers to multiple occasions or instances, depending on the context.
Here is a quick breakdown:
- All-time favorite: Something you consider your greatest favorite.
- All times: Multiple occasions or instances.
- At all times: Continuously or on every relevant occasion.
- All the time: Continuously, frequently, or very often, depending on the context.
Examples:
- This is my all-time favorite song. (This is the song I love most.)
- The machine recorded the temperature at all times during the test. (The machine recorded it throughout the test.)
- Employees must wear their identification badges at all times. (Employees must always wear their badges.)
- She talks about that movie all the time. (She talks about it very frequently.)
Remember that “all times favorite” is not the standard expression for describing a favorite thing. In that context, use “all-time favorite.”
Comparison Overview
The easiest way to understand these expressions is to compare their meanings, grammatical functions, and typical uses.
| Expression | Meaning | Grammatical Role | Example |
| All-time favorite | A person’s greatest or most enduring favorite | Compound modifier and noun | This is my all-time favorite book. |
| All times | Multiple occasions or instances | Noun phrase | The results were recorded at all times during the experiment. |
| At all times | Continuously or on every relevant occasion | Prepositional phrase | Keep your identification badge visible at all times. |
| All the time | Continuously or very frequently | Adverbial phrase | He listens to music all the time. |
| All-time record | The highest or greatest record achieved across the relevant history | Compound modifier and noun | The athlete set an all-time record. |
| All-time high | The highest level ever reached within the relevant period | Compound modifier and noun | The stock market reached an all-time high. |
Although these expressions share similar words, their meanings aren’t interchangeable.
For instance, “my all-time favorite restaurant” identifies a personal preference. Meanwhile, “at all times” communicates that something should happen continuously or whenever a requirement applies.
One important detail deserves attention: “all times” often sounds incomplete without additional context or a suitable preposition. For example, “at all times” and “for all times” have specific uses, while a sentence containing only “all times” may need rewriting to sound natural.
What Does All-Time Favorite Mean?
Definition of All-Time Favorite
An all-time favorite is a person, place, thing, activity, or experience that someone considers their greatest favorite. The expression often suggests that the preference has lasted for a long time or stands above other choices.
The word favorite identifies something a person likes especially well. The modifier all-time expands that meaning by suggesting that the choice remains a favorite across the relevant span of experience.
For example, imagine you’ve watched hundreds of movies throughout your life. You enjoy many of them, but one stands above the rest. You might say:
The Lion King is my all-time favorite movie.
This sentence communicates more than simply liking the movie. It identifies the movie as your personal top choice.
However, an all-time favorite doesn’t have to be something you’ve loved since childhood. You can discover a new favorite at any age and describe it as your all-time favorite if it becomes your top choice.
Consider these examples:
- Food: Pizza is my all-time favorite food.
- Music: This is my all-time favorite album.
- Books: That novel remains my all-time favorite.
- Sports: Serena Williams is one of my all-time favorite athletes.
- Travel: Kyoto is my all-time favorite destination.
- Activities: Hiking in the mountains is my all-time favorite weekend activity.
Notice that the expression works with many different types of nouns. You can use it whenever you want to identify a particularly beloved choice.
Why Is All-Time Hyphenated?
The hyphen in all-time favorite connects all and time to form a compound modifier.
A compound modifier consists of two or more words that work together to describe another word. In this expression, all-time modifies favorite by giving it a broader sense of lasting importance or overall preference.
Compare these examples:
- Correct: This is my all-time favorite restaurant.
- Incorrect in standard usage: This is my all times favorite restaurant.
- Correct: She broke an all-time record.
- Correct: The company reached an all-time high in sales.
The hyphen helps readers recognize that all-time functions as a single descriptive unit.
In the phrase all-time favorite, the word favorite is a noun. It identifies the thing someone likes best, while all-time describes the nature of that preference.
You can also use all-time before other nouns:
- All-time record
- All-time high
- All-time low
- All-time great
- All-time bestseller
These expressions commonly describe records, achievements, rankings, or enduring favorites.
A useful grammar tip: When all-time modifies a noun in these established expressions, retain the hyphen. Don’t replace it with all times simply because the words look similar.
Can All-Time Favorite Describe More Than One Thing?
Yes. You can use all-time favorite for a single choice or combine it with a plural noun to discuss several favorites.
For example:
- This is my all-time favorite song.
- These are my all-time favorite songs.
- Those two books are among my all-time favorites.
The last example uses favorites as a plural noun. The expression can identify multiple top choices, particularly when you don’t want to rank one above every other option.
You can also use the phrase one of my all-time favorites when several things share a special place in your preferences.
For instance:
That concert was one of my all-time favorite experiences.
This sentence doesn’t necessarily mean the concert was your single greatest experience. It means you rank it among your most memorable or beloved experiences.
The distinction is useful when discussing personal preferences because people often have several favorites rather than one undisputed winner.
Examples of All-Time Favorite in Sentences
Seeing the expression in context can help you use it more naturally.
| Example Sentence | Meaning |
| Chocolate cake is my all-time favorite dessert. | Chocolate cake is the dessert I like best. |
| That was my all-time favorite vacation. | The vacation was my greatest travel experience. |
| This song is an all-time favorite among my friends. | Many friends particularly enjoy the song. |
| She is one of my all-time favorite writers. | I rank her among my most-loved writers. |
| The film became an all-time favorite for many viewers. | Many viewers continued to regard the film as a favorite. |
| This remains my all-time favorite childhood memory. | The memory is especially meaningful to me. |
Pay attention to the context. An all-time favorite can reflect an individual opinion or a preference shared by a group.
For example, my all-time favorite movie describes your personal choice. In contrast, a fan favorite describes something especially popular among fans.
These phrases can overlap, but they aren’t identical. Something can be your personal all-time favorite without being the most popular choice among everyone else.
Read More: Pent vs. Pant: Meaning, Differences, Spelling, and Examples
What Does All Times Mean?
Definition of All Times
The phrase “all times” generally refers to every occasion, instance, or point in time within a particular context. Its exact meaning depends on the surrounding words and the situation being discussed.
Unlike all-time favorite, this phrase doesn’t describe a person’s greatest preference. Instead, it treats times as a plural noun referring to multiple instances or periods.
For example, consider this sentence:
The technician checked the equipment at all times during the procedure.
Here, the intended meaning is that the technician monitored the equipment continuously throughout the procedure. However, depending on the precise meaning, at all times during the procedure may sound more natural than using all times without a preposition.
Another example is:
The team reviewed all times recorded in the competition results.
In this sentence, times refers to recorded performances or durations, such as the number of seconds an athlete needed to complete a race.
The phrase can therefore refer to different things depending on context. It might describe occasions, recorded durations, or historical periods.
However, “all times” isn’t a direct substitute for “all-time.” The two expressions have different grammatical structures and meanings.
Examples of All Times in Sentences
The phrase all times can work naturally in certain contexts, especially when times refers to specific instances or recorded durations.
Consider these examples:
- Recorded durations: The official reviewed all times submitted by the runners.
- Repeated occasions: She remembered all the times her friends helped her.
- Historical references: The museum displayed artifacts from different times in history.
- Scheduled events: The website listed all times available for the guided tours.
- Performance records: The coach compared all times recorded during the season.
Notice that several of these examples use additional words, such as the, recorded, or available, to make the intended meaning clearer.
For example, all the times her friends helped her refers to every occasion on which they helped her. Meanwhile, all times available for the guided tours refers to every listed time slot.
You should choose the wording that expresses your meaning most clearly rather than forcing the exact phrase all times into every sentence.
When Does All Times Sound Unnatural?
Although all times is grammatically possible, it doesn’t fit naturally into every context.
Consider this sentence:
This is my all times favorite movie.
The sentence sounds incorrect because the writer wants to describe a personal favorite, not multiple occasions. The correct version is:
This is my all-time favorite movie.
Now consider another sentence:
I remember all times we spent together.
Most readers would find this less natural than:
I remember all the times we spent together.
Adding the helps identify the particular occasions being discussed.
Similarly, if you mean that something happens continuously, use at all times or all the time, depending on the sentence.
For example:
- Less natural: You must remain alert all times.
- Correct: You must remain alert at all times.
- Correct: You need to stay alert all the time.
The main lesson is simple: Use complete, natural expressions rather than treating “all times” as a universal replacement for similar phrases.
All Times vs. At All Times
The expressions all times and at all times look almost identical. However, the preposition at changes how the phrase works in a sentence.
What Does At All Times Mean?
“At all times” means continuously or on every occasion when something applies. People often use it for rules, instructions, expectations, and situations that require consistent attention.
For example:
- Employees must wear their identification badges at all times.
- Keep the emergency exit clear at all times.
- Visitors must follow the facility’s safety rules at all times.
- Drivers should remain alert at all times.
- The security team must monitor the entrance at all times.
In these sentences, at all times emphasizes that a requirement applies continuously or whenever the relevant situation occurs.
The phrase often appears in formal instructions because it communicates a consistent expectation.
For example, a sign in a laboratory might say:
Protective eyewear must be worn at all times inside this area.
The instruction means that people must wear the required eyewear throughout their time in the designated area.
FAQs:
Is It All-Time Favorite or All Times Favorite?
All-time favorite is the correct standard expression when describing something you like more than anything else. The hyphen connects all and time into a compound modifier.
For example, This is my all-time favorite restaurant means that the restaurant is your greatest favorite.
The phrase all times favorite isn’t standard English for this meaning. Use all-time favorite instead.
Is All-Time Favorite Hyphenated?
Yes. Write all-time favorite with a hyphen when using all-time as a compound modifier.
Examples include all-time favorite movie, all-time favorite song, and all-time favorite book.
The same pattern appears in expressions such as all-time record and all-time high. The hyphen helps readers recognize the words as a single descriptive unit.
Does All Times Mean the Same as All the Time?
No. All times usually refers to multiple occasions, instances, or recorded durations. All the time generally means continuously or very frequently.
For example, The official reviewed all times recorded during the race refers to several recorded durations.
However, He talks about racing all the time means that he talks about it very frequently.
Choose the phrase that matches the context.
What Is the Difference Between All Times and At All Times?
All times can refer to multiple occasions or recorded durations. At all times means continuously or on every relevant occasion.
For example, The website lists all available appointment times refers to a collection of time slots.
In contrast, Keep your identification visible at all times means you should keep it visible whenever the requirement applies.
The preposition at gives the second expression its established meaning.
Can I Use All-Time Favorite for a Person, Song, or Movie?
Yes. You can use all-time favorite for people, songs, movies, books, foods, places, activities, and experiences.
For example:
- She is one of my all-time favorite singers.
- This is my all-time favorite song.
- That movie is an all-time favorite among my friends.
The expression works whenever you want to identify a top personal preference or something especially popular within a group.
Conclusion:
Understanding all-time favorite vs. all times comes down to recognizing what you want to express. Although the phrases contain similar words, they serve different grammatical purposes. Use all-time favorite when describing something you like more than anything else. The hyphen connects all-time into a compound modifier, as in my all-time favorite song or her all-time favorite book. Use all times when referring to multiple occasions, instances, or recorded durations. Depending on your sentence, a more natural expression might be all the times, every time, or all available times.
