什麼都…就是…grammar point · tier 2 · 什麼都…就是… everything except one
Everything except one: 什麼都 sweeps the whole set under one predicate; 就是 carves out the single case that breaks it.
字源 FORM what the parts do
什麼 names an open thing and 都 sweeps every one of them under the predicate. 就是 carries 就's 'it is just' sense; it pins the one case set apart from that sweep.
故事 STORY a scene to remember it by
A net drags in the whole catch; one fish is lifted back out and held aside.
字源記憶法
框 · Frame
什麼都 [predicate over all], 就是 [the one exception]
觸 · Trigger
One predicate covers the whole open set, and you want to flag the single case that escapes it.
序 · The move
1State the sweep first: 什麼都 + the predicate that holds across the board.Does 什麼都 stand before the verb, the predicate true of every case?
2Open the second clause with 就是 and name the one case that breaks the sweep.Is 就是 followed by exactly one exception, not a second general statement?
3Keep the exception narrower than the sweep, usually negated against it.Read backwards: does the whole still mean all-but-one, never one-only?
什麼都…就是… sweeps everything in, then pulls one case back out (all but this); 連…都… points at the hardest case and keeps it in (even this one).
除了…以外
什麼都…就是… leads with the blanket sweep and saves the exception for the 就是 clause; 除了…以外 names the excepted thing up front and runs the rest around it.
他什麼都不吃，就是吃臭豆腐。 → 他什麼都吃，就是不敢吃臭豆腐。 (The 什麼都 sweep is the broad case; the negation belongs on the 就是 exception, not the sweep.)
他就是什麼都吃。 → 他什麼都吃，就是不敢吃臭豆腐。 (就是 carves the lone exception in the second clause; it does not lead the sweep.)
他什麼吃，就是不敢吃臭豆腐。 → 他什麼都吃，就是不敢吃臭豆腐。 (都 must follow 什麼 to make the sweep universal.)
English says it in one clause with except / but: he eats anything but stinky tofu. Chinese splits it into two: the 什麼都 sweep stands as a full clause, then 就是 opens a second clause for the one exception.