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I have encountered the following sentence: "Sie kämpfen mit allem, was sie haben". Similarly "Ich habe alles verloren."
It is clear to me that mit requires Dativ in the first one and that the second one is Akkusativ, but how do I tell the gender?
Why not aller instead of allem in the first sentence? Why neutral in the second?
You are obviously confusing two different variations of the word:
Sie kämpfen mit allem, was sie haben.
They are fighting by all available means.Sie kämpfen mit allen, die sie haben.
They are fighting with all the men they have.Ich habe alles verloren.
I have lost everything (e.g. my house, my family, my job, …).Ich habe alle verloren.
I have lost everybody [I loved/I had etc.]
If there is some context around the sentence, the word alle can also refer to things:
Ich hatte fünf Ringe, aber habe alle verloren.
I once had five rings, but have lost all of them.Sie haben viele Waffen. Sie kämpfen mit allen, die sie haben.
They have lots of weapons. They are fighting with all [weapons] they have.
Dativ Singular MaskulinumandNeutrum; and aller as theDativ Singular Femininum. – blutorange Apr 11 '15 at 15:53