4 Use of dōu 都 (both/all)
The adverb dōu 都 (both/all) is placed before the verb in statements. Depending on the meaning of the sentence, when negated it can be placed before or after the negation word. Learn more about its usage by having a go at Activity 4.
Activity _unit3.5.1 Activity 4
a.
True
b.
False
The correct answer is a.
a.
at the beginning as in the English sentence.
b.
before the verb (e.g., ‘shì 是’).
The correct answer is b.
a.
True
b.
False
The correct answer is b.
Discussion
The answer is: False. This sentence means ‘None of them are doctors’. To convey ‘not all of them’, dōu 都 should be placed between bù 不 and shì 是: Tāmen bù dōu shì yīshēng. 他们不都是医生。
a.
True
b.
False
The correct answer is a.
So, we can conclude that dōu bù 都不 and bù dōu 不都 have different meanings. Which means what?
Two lists follow, match one item from the first with one item from the second. Each item can only be matched once. There are 2 items in each list.
-
dōu bù 都不
-
bù dōu 不都
Match each of the previous list items with an item from the following list:
a.partial negation/not all
b.total negation/none
- 1 = b,
- 2 = a