Expressing "already" with "dou… le"

“都...了“ is used to express that something has already happened, similar to "已经...了". However it is used more emphatically, implying that the speaker holds some sort of attitude in relation to the event, and is not merely objectively stating the facts, as with "已经...了".

Structure

都 + Verb/Adjective/Quantity + 了

Examples

• 你 都 快 三十 了，还 不 结婚？
• 现在 都 是 二 十 一 世纪 了，你 怎么 还 这么 想？
• 都 九点 了，快 起床 吧！
• 他 都 到 了，你 能 不 见 他？
• 饭 都 凉 了，他 怎么 还 不 回来？
• 你 都 一个月没上学 了， 你怎么会通过你的考试？

Sources and further reading

Books

• [[Chinese Grammar - Broken down into 100 items - Basic and Intermediate Levels (汉语语法百项讲练 - 初中级)] [pp.97-99] →buy
• 现代汉语八百词（增订本） (pp. 178) →buy

Dictionaries

• 现代汉语词典（第5版） (pp.329 ) →buy

HSK4