Difference between revisions of "The "all" adverb "dou""

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* 我 和 我 男朋友 <em>都</em> 不 想 工作。 <span class="trans">Neither my boyfriend nor I want to work.</span>
 
* 我 和 我 男朋友 <em>都</em> 不 想 工作。 <span class="trans">Neither my boyfriend nor I want to work.</span>
 
* 我 的 儿子 和 女儿 <em>都</em> 不 吃 肉。 <span class="trans">Neither my son nor my daughter eat meat.</span>
 
* 我 的 儿子 和 女儿 <em>都</em> 不 吃 肉。 <span class="trans">Neither my son nor my daughter eat meat.</span>
* 他们 两 个 <em>都</em> 不 喝 酒。 <span class="trans">Neither of the two of them drink wine.</span>
+
* 他们 两 个 <em>都</em> 不 喝 酒。 <span class="trans">Neither of the two of them drink alcohol.</span>
 
* 你们 两 个 <em>都</em> 不 可以 走。 <span class="trans">Neither of you two may leave.</span>
 
* 你们 两 个 <em>都</em> 不 可以 走。 <span class="trans">Neither of you two may leave.</span>
  

Revision as of 09:15, 18 February 2014

Chinese-grammar-wiki-dou.jpg

The adverb 都 (dōu) is used to express "all" in Chinese. It's very common to use 都 in all sorts of sentences where we would find it unnecessary in English.

都 for "all"

Structure

Subject + 都 + [Verb Phrase]

Remember that 都 appears after the subject. A common mistake learners make is to put 都 at the beginning of the sentence (as "all" often appears there in English). This isn't good Chinese - make sure you put 都 after the subject.

Examples

  • 我们 爱 你 。 We all love you.
  • 你们 学 中文 吗 ?Do you all study Chinese?
  • 你们 认识 John 吗 ? Do you all know John?
  • 我们 在 上海 。 We are all in Shanghai.
  • 我们 可以 去 吗 ? Can we all go?
  • 他们 踢 足球 。They all play soccer.
  • 我 和 我 父母 在 这里。 My parents and I are all here.
  • 你们 用 wiki 吗? Do you all use the wiki?
  • 你们 喜欢 喝 咖啡 吗 ? Do you all like drinking coffee?
  • 你们 要 冰 啤酒 吗?Do you all want a cold beer?

都 for "both"

Chinese doesn't normally use a special word for "both" like English does. It just uses 都 as if it were any other number greater than one. This is actually really easy; you just have to get used to it.

Structure

[Subject which is two people or things ] + 都 + [Verb Phrase]

This pattern should look familiar!

Examples

These examples follow exactly the same form in Chinese as the ones above. The only difference is that we don't translate 都 as "all" for these in English; we translate it as "both," and for negative cases, we translate it as "neither."

  • 我们 两 个 爱 你 。 The two of us both love you.
  • 你们 两 个 学 中文 吗 ? Do you both study Chinese?
  • 我 和 我 老公 是 美国 人 。My husband and I are both Americans.
  • 我 和 我 太太 在 上海。 My wife and I are both in Shanghai.
  • 我 和 他 喜欢 中国 菜 。 He and I both like Chinese food.
  • 你 爸爸 和 妈妈 是 中国 人 吗?Are your mom and dad both Chinese?
  • 我 和 我 男朋友 不 想 工作。 Neither my boyfriend nor I want to work.
  • 我 的 儿子 和 女儿 不 吃 肉。 Neither my son nor my daughter eat meat.
  • 他们 两 个 不 喝 酒。 Neither of the two of them drink alcohol.
  • 你们 两 个 不 可以 走。 Neither of you two may leave.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books