How to use 都
大家 / 很多人 + 都⋯⋯
都 before the predicate can show that an action or description applies throughout a previously identified group. The group appears before 都, while the shared statement follows it. Subjects containing 大家 or 很多 often work naturally with this pattern, even where an English translation would not include an explicit “all.”
The extent of the claim depends on the group named in the sentence. A statement about many people does not necessarily describe everybody in a larger population. With negative predicates, pay attention to the position of 不 or 没, because scope affects the meaning. Do not treat 都 as a required filler after every plural expression; use it to convey the intended coverage.
Examples with pinyin and English
很多地方都有 wifi。
A lot of places have wifi.
我的很多朋友都有车。
A lot of my friends have cars.
很多美国人都喜欢喝咖啡。
A lot of Americans like drinking coffee.
很多孩子都不喜欢上学。
A lot of kids don't like to go to school.
What to remember
- Place the relevant group before 都.
- Put the shared predicate after 都.
- Read the group's scope from context.
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Source and editorial notes
Explanation rewritten for Laowai. Examples are adapted from the Laowai English grammar curriculum, with editorial corrections where needed. The original curriculum credits AllSet Learning’s Chinese Grammar Wiki as used with permission. Read the retained source credits.
Difficulty labels describe the level of the explanation; they are not official HSK placement. Send a correction with this page’s URL.