Expressing "every" with question words

Revision as of 13:28, 22 September 2014 by HuaWei (talk | contribs) (→‎Examples: The original used 会 which would mean "everyone will learn". Also changed 学习 to 学, which native speakers agree sounds more colloquial.)

"谁也/都" (shéi yě/dōu) is a pattern used to express "everyone" in Chinese. The placement of the question word 谁 is very similar to the way 什么 can be used to express "every", along with other question words like 哪儿 and 多少.

Examples

  • 谁 都 能 学 汉语。Everyone can study Chinese.
  • 谁 都 知道 他 做 了 什么。Everyone knows what he did.
  • 谁 都 想 挣 钱。Everyone wants to make money.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books