都 — All: one predicate covers every member of the set named before it.

TSUMUGU · TBCL 2 (est.) · 語法

都 grammar point · tier 1 · 都 all, every one (set-sweeping adverb)

· dōu

All: one predicate covers every member of the set named before it.

字源 FORM what the parts do

A city wall (阝) on the right; 者 sits on the left for the sound, zhě worn down to dōu, no meaning of its own here. The adverb stands before the predicate and reaches back to the set named on its left.

故事 STORY a scene to remember it by

A city gate opens; everyone already standing on the near side walks through together.

字源記憶法

框 · Frame

[plural / listed subject] 都 [verb / predicate]

觸 · Trigger

Every member of a set you just named shares the same predicate.

序 · The move

1Name the full set on the left first.Is there a plural or listed subject to the left of 都?

2Put 都 before the predicate, after that subject.Does 都 sit between the subject and the verb, never sentence-final?

3State one predicate that holds for the whole set.Does the one predicate cover every member, with no exception left out?

例 · Examples

1我們we都all喜歡like慢跑jog。

We all like jogging.

界 · Boundary

也

都 sweeps one set on its left under a single predicate (all of them); 也 lays a second predicate parallel to one already said (this one too).

全

都 reaches back over the whole subject set already named; 全 fills out a single whole as complete (the entire thing, no part missing).

都我們喜歡慢跑。 → 我們都喜歡慢跑。 (都 follows the subject set, it does not lead it.)

我們喜歡慢跑都。 → 我們都喜歡慢跑。 (都 sits before the verb, never at the end.)

我都喜歡慢跑。 → 我喜歡慢跑。 (都 needs a set to sweep; a single 我 has nothing to gather.)

English drops all after the subject or floats it about freely (we all / all of us); 都 holds one fixed slot before the verb.

族 · Family

都Already, by now: 都 before a count, span, or stage and 了 at the end says the tally has climbed this high, with the weight that it is high enough to expect things had moved on.