I am trying to make sentences start with "All", like the following:
All my pots and pans were broken, by accident.
But, what if I had only one pan ?
Sounds ODD : All my pots and pan were broken, by accident.
Second Example:
All my brothers and sisters were highly educated, unlike me.
What if I have only one sister ?
Sounds ODD : All my brothers and sister were highly educated, unlike me.
One way is to start with the Singular Item and then list the Plural Items:
My pan and all my pots were broken, by accident.
My sister and all my brothers were highly educated, unlike me.
One more way is to highlight and use "only":
All my pots and my only pan were broken, by accident.
All my brothers and my only sister were highly educated, unlike me.
But, Sentences are unnecessarily highlighting the Singular Items, which may divert the focus.
EDIT : Adding two more examples starting with "All" but without "my" :
All the Kings and Queens were crowned by Popes.
Sounds ODD : All the Kings and Queen were crowned by Popes.
All the shirts and jackets were damaged by the washing machine.
Sounds ODD : All the shirts and jacket were damaged by the washing machine.
I am trying to find ways to start with "All" but remain grammatical and not sound ODD.
Suggestions ?
ANSWERS & afterthoughts :
With the suggestions by @HighPerformanceMark, to go with the Plural when it is not important, and the suggestion by @KateBunting to have a minimal repetition, there is a Point by @Barmar that "All" implies that the associated noun is Plural.
Having thought some more about this Question, I have yet another suggestion: In some cases, we can club the Items. With that change, two of my examples become:
All my siblings were highly educated, unlike me.
All the Monarchs were crowned by Popes.