1 · Adverbs: also, again, already, only
Also and all: yě and dōu
the adverbs of addition and totality
Yě adds “too”, dōu sums up “all” — and both stand between the subject and the verb.
也 means “also, too” and 都 means “all, both”. Both are adverbs, and a Chinese adverb has one place: after the subject, directly before the verb or adjective. 我也喝茶is “I drink tea too”我们都喝茶is “we all drink tea” Neither can stand at the start of the sentence, and neither can stand at the end the way “too” does in English.
都 always looks back. It gathers up the people or things named before it — 我和他都是学生, “he and I are both students” — and in a statement it does not reach forward to an object after the verb. English can say “I like all fruit” with “all” after the verb; Chinese has to move the fruit in front of 都: 水果我都喜欢.
With negation the order decides the meaning. 都不 negates every member: 他们都不去, “none of them is going”. 不都 negates the “all”: 他们不都去, “not all of them are going”. With 也, a negative gives “not … either”: 我也不去.
When both appear, 也 comes first: 我们也都很忙, “we are all busy too”. And “me too” is never 也 with a pronoun alone: Chinese repeats the verb, 我也是 or 我也喜欢, because 也 needs a verb to lean on.
The form
| also | 我也喝茶。 |
| not … either | 我也不喝咖啡。 |
| all, both | 我们都是老师。 |
| none of them | 他们都不去。 |
| not all of them | 他们不都去。 |
| too, and all | 我们也都很忙。 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
也 and 都 stand after the subject and before the verb, never before the subject.
我也是学生。I am a student too.
都 sums up what stands before it, not what follows the verb.
我和妹妹都喜欢猫。My younger sister and I both like cats.
都不 means none; 不都 means not all.
这些菜不都辣。Not all of these dishes are spicy.
When both are needed, 也 comes before 都.
他们也都来了。They all came too.
A closer look
Why dōu cannot look forward
都 is a summing-up word: it says that whatever stands before it, taken one by one, is all covered by what follows. That is why it needs its group on the left. “I have read all these books” therefore puts the books first: 这些书我都看过. A sentence such as 我都看过这些书 is what English speakers produce, and to a Chinese ear it has nothing for 都 to sum up except “I”.
The same logic explains why question words go before 都 when they mean “every”: 谁都知道, “everybody knows”, and 什么都吃, “eats anything”. The question word is the group, and 都 gathers it up from behind.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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都 stands before a time or a number and the sentence ends in 了
it means “already” and sums nothing up.
都十二点了，你怎么还不睡？It’s already twelve — why aren’t you in bed?
The speaker is gathering up the time that has passed and finding it more than expected; English says “it’s already …”.
How to spot it
- 也
- 都
- 也都
- 都不
- 不都
Example sentences
我是英国人，她也是英国人。I am British, and she is British too.
我们都喜欢吃饺子。We all like eating dumplings.
我也不会做饭。I can’t cook either.
他们家的人都很高。Everyone in their family is tall.
这些衣服都不贵。None of these clothes are expensive.
我爸爸和妈妈也都是医生。My dad and my mum are both doctors too.
8 more example sentences
你去，我也去。If you’re going, I’m going too.
我们班的同学都去过长城。Everyone in our class has been to the Great Wall.
她不喝酒，也不抽烟。She doesn’t drink, and she doesn’t smoke either.
这两个房间都很干净。Both rooms are very clean.
他们不都是中国人。Not all of them are Chinese.
我和我朋友都住在上海。My friend and I both live in Shanghai.
孩子们也都睡了。The children have all gone to sleep too.
这几本书我都看过。I have read all of these books.
Worth knowing (1)
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Saying “me too”
Chinese has no “me too” made of a pronoun alone. 也 is an adverb and needs a verb, so the reply repeats one: 我也是 after a sentence with 是 or an adjective, 我也喜欢 after “I like …”, 我也去 after “I am going”. In casual speech 我也是 works as an all-purpose “same here”.
我也喜欢这首歌。I like this song too.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English lets “also” drift — “also, I like coffee”, “I also like coffee”, “I like coffee too”. 也 does not drift: it is glued to the front of the verb. The same holds for 都: “all of us” is 我们都, never 都我们.
Yě and dōu stand after the subject and before the verb, and dōu looks back at what came before.
Your turn
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