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タクシーの全部{ぜんぶ}が白い{しろい}。

Would that be a natural way to say: all the taxis are white. ?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-31T15:41:43.277
21550
2015-02-04T06:39:18.110
2015-01-31T16:02:38.437
5123
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question
word-choice
Use of 全部{ぜんぶ} in the following sentence
It sounds unnatural to me. If a native speaker hears the sentence, he/she will
imagine an unrealistic taxi which is completely white (including body, wheel,
sheets, and so on).

Instead, you should say: 「全部のタクシーが白い。」or「タクシーは全部白い。」. But the latter may be
ambiguous depending a context, which may again mean "The taxi is completely
white.".
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2015-01-31T22:08:38.557
21555
2015-01-31T22:08:38.557
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answer
"タクシーの全部が白い" There are two meanings.

> ① "タクシーの全部分が白い" ＞ "All parts of the taxi is white."  
>  ② "全てのタクシーが白い" ＞ "All taxis are white."

**example**  
① "私は個人タクシーのドライバーだが、客寄せのための特別な塗装のため、タクシーの全部が白い。" ②
"私の所属しているタクシー会社では、保有しているタクシーの全部が白い。"

In general, we use ②.
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2015-02-04T02:28:16.607
21618
2015-02-04T02:28:16.607
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answer
No, it would not be a natural way to say "all the taxis are white."

You're looking for:

1 タクシーはみんな白い。

2 タクシーは全部白い。

3 タクシーはすべて白い。

4 全部のタクシーが白い。

5 すべてのタクシーが白い。

As was mentioned above タクシーの全部 means "the entirety of the taxi(s)" which
requires a very narrow, specific context, although keep in mind that examples
2 and 3 (2 more than 3, though) can also mean "the taxi is entirely white."
Lacking grammatical number, Japanese requires extra information/context to
clarify part/whole distinctions which are very easy to make in languages like
English, which do have grammatical number.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-04T06:39:18.110
21622
2015-02-04T06:39:18.110
9306
21550
answer