Difference between revisions of "Expressing "even" with "lian" and "dou""

Revision as of 10:03, 17 October 2011

"连... 都/也..." (lián... dōu/yě...) is a pattern that can be used to emphasize certain unexpected or surprising events or information. It is used the same way even is in English.

Here's the general sentence structure:

连 + Noun + 也/都 + Adjective/Verb

The important thing to remember is that the noun is being emphasized rather than the action.

Here are some example sentences which should make this clear:

我们都去上海，连奶奶也去。
她每天都在学习数学，连星期日都在学习。
我太穷了，连吃饭的钱都没有。
谁都喜欢听那首歌曲，连爸爸也喜欢。

Sources and further reading

Books

Common Chinese Patterns 330 (pp. 152)
Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (pp. 356-357)

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 *我们 都 去 上海 ，<em>连</em> 奶奶 <em>也</em> 去。
-*她 每天 都 学习 数学，<em>连</em> 星期日 <em>也</em> 学习。
+*她 每天 都 在 学习 数学，<em>连</em> 星期日 <em>都</em> 在 学习。
+*我 太 穷 了，<em>连</em> 吃饭 的 钱 <em>都</em> 没有。
 *谁 都 喜欢 听 那 首 歌曲，<em>连</em> 爸爸 <em>也</em> 喜欢。