Scope Adverbs: 都 and 也

Chinese grammar · HSK 1 · 范围副词 · By Carson 木林森

都 (dōu) = all / both — refers to multiple subjects or items. It always comes before the verb.

都 dōu all; both; entirely 也 yě (adverb) also; both ... and ... (before pre… 都与也 dōu yǔ yě

也 (yě) = also / too — adds one more item to the list. Comes before the verb.

Key rules:
- 都 and 也 come after the subject, before the verb
- When both appear together: 也都 (also all)
- 都 looks back at plural subjects: 我们都喜欢 (we ALL like)

❌ 我们喜欢都。(wrong — 都 at end)
✅ 我们都喜欢。(correct)

Worked examples

Chinese	Pinyin	English	What it shows
我们都是学生。	Wǒ men dōu shì xué shēng.	We are all students.	都 after subject 我们, before verb 是
她也会说英语。	Tā yě huì shuō yīng yǔ.	She can also speak English.	也 after subject 她, before modal verb 会
他们也都喜欢足球。	Tā men yě dōu xǐ huān zú qiú.	They also all like football.	也都 together: also + all. Order is 也都 not 都也.

Produce this pattern without stopping to think about it. GraphChinese drills Scope Adverbs across 12 exercises and schedules the review that keeps it.

What this opens up

These patterns list Scope Adverbs among their own prerequisites, so they become readable once this one holds.

Question Words as Non-Questions

The same pattern at other levels

Scope Adverbs — HSK 3
Scope adverbs — HSK 4

Scope Adverbs is one topic of 829. GraphChinese teaches them in prerequisite order, so this pattern reaches you on the day everything it rests on is proven. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.

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