Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar

46

expressing ‘both,’ ‘all,’ ‘every,’

‘any,’ ‘none,’ ‘not any,’ and

‘no matter how’

46.1 Expressing ‘both’ and ‘all’

46.1.1 expressing ‘both’ and ‘all’ with 都 dDu

Mandarin does not have separate words for ‘both’ and ‘all.’ It uses the same word, 都 dōu,

to indicate that a situation is true for the entire plural subject or object. 都 dōu is an adverb

and always occurs before the verb. When the sentence occurs in neutral subject-verb-object

form, 都 dōu usually indicates ‘both’ or ‘all’ of the subject.

我们都喜欢他。

我們都喜歡他。

Wǒmen dōu xǐhuan tā.

We all like him.

To indicate ‘both’ or ‘all’ of the object noun phrase using 都 dōu, ‘topicalize’ the object noun

phrase by placing it before the subject.

那样的音乐，我都喜欢听。

那樣的音樂，我都喜歡聽。

Nà yàng de yīnyuè, wǒ dōu xǐhuan tīng.

That kind of music, I like to listen to all of it.

中国菜我都喜欢吃。

中國菜我都喜歡吃。

Zhōngguó cài wǒ dōu xǐhuan chī.

(As for) Chinese food, I like to eat everything.

C15.2.2, 57.1.2

Mandarin does not have a distinct word for ‘both.’ To specify that a situation is true for precisely

two nouns, your noun phrase must include the number two:

那两本书都很有意思。

那兩本書都很有意思。

Nà liǎng běn shū dōu hěn yǒu yìsī.

Those two books are both very interesting.