Emphasizing quantity with "dou"

都 (dōu) is one of those characters that on the surface may seem simple, but actually has many different subtle uses. In this article, we will look at using 都 to emphasize quantity.

Structure

You can use 都 (dōu) to emphasis the large quantity of something, particularly a group of people. The subject should be some sort of large group (like a majority of people or things), e.g. "很多人" or "大部分".

Subject + 都 + Verb + Object

Examples

• 很 多 人 都 想 减肥。A lot of people want to lose weight.
• 大家 都 应该 知道。Everyone should know.
• 很 多 书 以后 有时间都 要读一读。A lot of books are worth reading If I could spare some time later.
• 爱尔兰人 都 喜欢 喝 啤酒。Irish people all like drinking beer.

See also

• Expressing "every" with "mei" and "dou"

• Expressing "even" with "lian" and "dou"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Chinese Grammar - Broken down into 100 items - Basic and Intermediate Levels (汉语语法百项讲练 - 初中级) (pp. 313) →buy
• 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 (p. 210) →buy