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

"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)