The "all" adverb "dou"

Revision as of 01:29, 4 September 2013 by Yucui (talk | contribs)
Chinese-grammar-wiki-dou.jpg

The adverb 都 (dōu) is used to express "all" in Chinese. In Chinese, it's more common to mark this than in English. If the subject is plural, 都 is often expected.

Structure

Subject + 都 + Predicate Verb + Object

Remember that 都 appears after the subject. A common mistake learners make is to put 都 at the beginning of the sentence (as "all" often appears there in English). This isn't good Chinese - make sure you put 都 after the subject.


Examples

  • 我们 住 在 上海。
  • 我 和 我 老公 是 美国人。My husband and I are all Americans.
  • 我 和 我 太太 在 上海 工作。
  • 他们 踢足 球。They all play soccer.
  • 我 和 他 喜欢 中国菜。
  • 我们 都 爱 你 。
  • 你们 在 学 中文 吗?Are you all studying Chinese?
  • 你们 认识 John 吗?
  • 你们 在 用 Grammar Wiki 吗?
  • 你们 喜欢 喝 咖啡 吗?
  • 我们 可以 去 吗?

See also

Sources and further reading

Books