▎都, dōu, (Adv), totality, all (1)

 

Function 都 is used to indicate that all items referred to by the subject or object noun have something in common.

1 我們都姓陳。

Wǒmen dōu xìng Chén.

We are all surnamed Chen.

2 他的兄弟姐妹都很好看。

Tā de xiōngdì jiěmèi dōu hěn hǎokàn.

His siblings are all good-looking.

3 這兩個房子都是他的。

Zhè liǎng ge fángzi dōu shì tā de.

Both of these two houses are his.

 

Structures 都 is an adverb, which is placed after the noun it relates to and before the main verb phrase, i.e., in Noun＋都＋VP, the noun can be a subject or an object. When the noun is an object, it must be moved to the front of the sentence, see 3.

1 我們都是美國人。

Wǒmen dōu shì Měiguó rén.

We are all American.

2 你爸爸、媽媽都要喝咖啡。

Nǐ bàba, māma dōu yào hē kāfēi.

Both your dad and mom want to drink coffee.

3 茶、咖啡，我都喜歡喝。

Chá, kāfēi, wǒ dōu xǐhuan hē.

I like to drink both tea and coffee.

Negation：The adverb 都 is negated by 不.

1 我們不都是美國人。

Wǒmen bù dōu shì Měiguó rén.

Not all of us are American.

2 我哥哥、我姐姐不都喜歡照相。

Wǒ gēge, wǒ jiějie bù dōu xǐhuan zhàoxiàng.

Not both of my brother and my sister like taking pictures.

The sequence 不都 is the same as 不是都.

 

Questions：

1 你們都是美國人嗎？

Nǐmen dōu shì Měiguó rén ma?

Are you all American?

2 你的家人是不是都要喝咖啡？

Nǐ de jiārén shìbúshì dōu yào hē kāfēi?

Do all the people in your family want to drink coffee?

 

Usage

(1) 都 is an adverb and appears before the verb and after the subject. It is not correct to say ＊都我們是臺灣人。＊Dōu wǒmen shì Táiwān rén. ‘＊All we are Taiwanese’.

(2) Members of a group indicated by 都 all have to appear before 都. For example, to say ‘I like both teachers Li and Wang’, one says 李老師、王老師，我都喜歡。Lǐ Lǎoshī, Wáng Lǎoshī, wǒ dōu xǐhuān. ‘I like both Teacher Li and Teacher Wang.’ It is incorrect to say ＊我都喜歡李老師、王老師。＊Wǒ dōu xǐhuān Lǐ Lǎoshī, Wáng Lǎoshī. ‘＊I both like Teacher Li and Teacher Wang.’

(3) In interrogatives, 都 works with the 嗎ma question form but not with A-not-A question forms. For example, to say ‘Are you all surnamed Wang?’, one can say 你們都姓王嗎？Nǐmen dōu xìng Wáng ma? ‘Are you all surnamed Wang?’ but not ＊你們都姓不姓王？ ＊Nǐmen dōu xìng bú xìng Wáng? ‘＊Are you all surnamed or not surnamed Wang?’

(4) When 都 is modified by 不bù, the sentence means ‘not all…’, e.g., 他們不都是臺灣人。Tāmen bù dōu shì Táiwān rén. ‘Not all of them are Taiwanese’.