How to use 谁都
Question Word + 都 + Predicate
Question words followed by 都 can range across all possible members of a relevant set. 谁都 includes every person, while 哪儿都 includes every relevant place. The same principle extends to times, amounts, and ways of doing something. These are inclusive statements, so the question word does not request a particular answer from the listener.
The following predicate determines how to translate the result. A positive statement may mean everyone, everywhere, or any option whatsoever. A negative predicate can instead exclude every member, producing meanings such as nobody or nowhere. Keep 都 before that predicate and pay attention to the scope of the negative. The relevant set still comes from the conversational context.
Examples with pinyin and English
谁都喜欢美食。
Everyone likes delicious food.
谁都可以进。
Everyone can come in.
谁都不相信他说的话。
No one believes what he said.
他的房间里哪儿都是脏衣服。
His dirty laundry is all over his room.
What to remember
- 都 gives the question word an inclusive scope.
- These phrases need not ask a question.
- Negation can exclude every member of the set.
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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.
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