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 lǚyóu le.The entire family went traveling.
• 请 你 读 一下 全 文。Qǐng nǐ dú yīxià quán wén.Please read the full text.
• 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 中国 有 多少 个 省 吗？Nǐ zhīdao quán Zhōngguó yǒu duōshao gè shěng ma?Do you know how many provinces China has?
• 现在 是 全 球 经济 发展 最 快 的 时候。Xiànzài shì quán qiú jīngjì fāzhǎn zuì kuài de shíhou.The world economy is developing rapidly now.
• 全世界 的 人 都 知道 Obama 是 谁，你 不 知道？Quán shìjiè de rén dōu zhīdao Obama shì shéi, nǐ bù zhīdao?The whole world knows who Obama is. Don't you know?
• 全 公司 的 人 都 知道 经理 被 炒鱿鱼 了。 Quán gōngsī de rén dōu zhīdao jīnglǐ bèi chǎo yóuyú le.The whole company knew that the manager got fired.
• 上海 市 政府 最近 做 了 一 个 全 民 健身 活动 的 调查。 Shànghǎi shì zhèngfǔ zuìjìn zuò le yī gè quán mín jiànshēn huódòng​ de diàochá .The city government of Shanghai recently did a survey about the national fitness program.
• 保护 环境 不只 是 政府 的 责任，也是 全 社会 的 责任。 Bǎohù huánjìng bù zhǐ shì zhèngfǔ de zérèn,gèng xūyào quán shèhuì de zérèn. It's not only the government's responsibility to protect the environment, but also the entire society.

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