Expressing "every" with question words

Revision as of 07:02, 15 September 2011 by Gregory.mcandrews (talk | contribs) (Created page with ""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 ...")
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

"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.

Here's are some examples to help explain this pattern:

  • 谁 都 会 学习 汉语。
  • 谁 也 不 知道 他 做 了 什么。
  • 谁 都 已经 出去 了。

Sources and further reading

Books

  • Common Chinese Patterns 330 (NEEDS AMAZON AFFILIATE LINK)
  • Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Reader (NEEDS AMAZON AFFILIATE LINK)