Chinese Grammar: Saying all with 都

How do you say 'both', 'all', 'both not/neither', 'all not', 'not both', 'not all' in Chinese? There’s just one word to know in Chinese to cover all that! Okay, two, if you add 不 because what you want to say has a negative meaning. That’s it.

Let's start with seeing how we'd say that word in Chinese.

都 All, every

Meet 都, your new favorite everything. It is used to express "all" in Chinese. It's a handy word to know, and now that you know it, you'll be seeing it pop up everywhere!

Structure

The key thing to note is that 都 is always placed after the subject in Chinese.

S + 都 + [verb phrase]

Examples

他们都喜欢 跳舞。
They all like to dance.

大家都坐 公共汽车 去 学校。
Everyone takes the bus to go to school.

上海、北京 和 广州都在 中国。
Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou are all in China.

Be flexible: 都 is plural

It's important to be flexible and to keep in mind that 都 has different translations depending on how you use it: it can mean "all", "every", but it can also mean "both", and, when in a negative sentence, it can also mean "neither".

都 as both

So 都 is also your go-to-word to say "both".

Structure

[Subject which is two people or things ] + 都 + [Verb Phrase]

都 can then accompanied by 和 (with, and).

Examples

我和爸爸都爱 游泳。
My father and I both like swimming.

咖啡和牛奶都很 好喝。
Both coffee and milk are delicious.

Not all vs. All not

都 is a straightforward structure. Place it after the subject, and you're good to go.

What you do need to get straight is its negative form. There are two different structures, to say “all not” and “not all”. Both use the same characters but in two different orders! It follows the same order as in English, so it’s pretty simple.

Not all: 不 都

Structure

Subject + 不 都 + V+ Object

Examples

西瓜不 都好吃。
Not all watermelons are delicious.

明天 我们不 都上班。
Not all of us need to work tomorrow.

男人不 都喜欢 女人[nǚ rén; nv rén]。
Not all men like women.

All not: 都 不

Structure

Subject +都 不 + V+ Object

Examples

他们都 不来。
None of them came.

妈妈 和 妹妹都 不爱 运动。
Neither my mother nor my sister like sports.

鸡蛋都 不好吃。
No eggs are tasty.

Always, put 都 after the subject, you will. 都 can never start a sentence in Chinese!