The "all" adverb "dou"

The adverb 都 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.

The structure is:

Subject + 都 + 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. Some examples:

• 我们 都 是 德国人。
• 他们 都 踢足 球。
• 你们 都 学习 中文 吗？

都 and 也

If you're using 都 and 也 in the same sentence, put 也 first:

Subject + 也 + 都 + Verb + Object

Some examples:

• 他们 也 都 是 泰国 人。
• 我们 也 都 喜欢 喝 葡萄酒。
• 你们 也 都 是 医学生生 吗？