Indicating the whole with "quan"

One of the uses of 全 (quán) is to indicate the entirety of something. It could be used for something like a whole household, an entire country, the whole world, etc.

Structure

The structure is quite simple, just put 全 in front of the noun you want to emphasize "the whole" of. You cannot use it with 的. Pay attention to the types of nouns you can use with 全, since it is usually paired up with 国 (country), 世界 (world), 家 (family), 天 (day), 球 (the globe), and the like.

全 + Noun

Examples

• 我们 全家 都 去 旅游 了。Wǒmen quán jiā dōu qù lǚyóule.The entire family went traveling.
• 明天 我 全 天 都 呆 在 家里。Míngtiān wǒ quán tiān dōu dāi zài jiālǐ.I am going to stay home all day tomorrow.
• 你 知道 全 国 有 几 个 省 吗？Nǐ zhīdào quán guóyǒu jǐ gè shěng ma?Do you know how many provinces the country has?
• 现在 是 全 球 经济 发展 最 快 的 时候。Xiànzài shì quán qiú jīngjì fāzhǎn zuì kuài de shíhòu.Now is when the whole world is quickly developing economically.
• 全世界 的 人 都 知道 我 是 谁，你 不 知道？Quán shìjiè de rén dōu zhīdào wǒ shì shuí, nǐ bù zhīdào?The whole world knows who I am. Don't you know?
• 这 场 战争 影响 到 全美国。Zhè chǎng zhànzhēng yǐngxiǎng dào quán Měiguó.This war is affecting all of America.
• 请 你 读 一下 全 文。Qǐng nǐ dú yīxià quán wén.Please read the full text.

See also

• Referring to "all" using "suoyou"
• Expressing "Everyone" with "shei"
• Expressing "All" with "shenme dou"
• Expressing "Every" with "mei" and "dou"
• Emphasizing quantity with "dou"

Sources and further reading

Books

• 现代汉语八百词 (p.457) →buy