By Michael McGettrick and Wee Khang LinUpdated 3 October 2026
Mandarin 也 (yě) and 都 (dōu)
English puts "too" at the end of a sentence and "all" more or less wherever it likes. Mandarin is stricter and simpler: 也 (yě, also) and 都 (dōu, all) are adverbs, and both live in one fixed slot, after the subject and straight before the verb. Learn the slot once and both words are done.
The whole system on one screen
| Word | Pinyin | Means | Slot |
|---|---|---|---|
| yě | also, too, either | subject + + verb | |
| dōu | all, both | group + + verb | |
| yě dōu | all ... too | group + + verb | |
| yě bù | not ... either | subject + + verb | |
| dōu bù | none of | group + + verb |
Three sentences show the pattern. Look at where the adverb sits in each one:
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
。 | Wǒ yě qù. | I am going too. |
。 | Wǒmen dōu qù. | We are all going. |
。 | Wǒmen yě dōu qù. | We are all going too. |
One slot: after the subject, before the verb
Mandarin adverbs go before the verb they describe, and 也 (yě) and 都 (dōu) follow that rule without exception. If anything else stands in front of the main verb, such as 想 (xiǎng, want to), 要 (yào, want, will) or 跟 (gēn, with), the adverb goes in front of the whole chain.
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
。 | Wǒ yě xiǎng qù Zhōngguó. | I want to go to China too. |
。 | Tā yě yào kāfēi. | He wants coffee too. |
。 | Wǒmen dōu zài zhèlǐ. | We are all here. |
。 | Tā yě gēn nǐ qù. | She is going with you too. |
。 | Wǒmen míngtiān dōu qù. | We are all going tomorrow. |
A time word such as 明天 (míngtiān, tomorrow) normally comes before the adverb, as in the last row. The adverb wants to be the last thing before the verb phrase.
也 (yě): also, too, and "not ... either"
也 (yě) adds one more person or thing to something already said. It is not a word for "and" between two nouns: it attaches to the verb, so there has to be a verb (or an adjective such as 好) for it to sit in front of.
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
，。 | Tā shì lǎoshī, wǒ yě shì lǎoshī. | He is a teacher; I am one too. |
，。 | Tā xǐhuan kāfēi, wǒ yě xǐhuan. | He likes coffee; I do too. |
。 | Kāfēi yě zhēnde hěn hǎo. | The coffee is really good too. |
。 | Wǒ yě bú qù. | I am not going either. |
Two things the table cannot show:
- usually comes before other adverbs. In 也真的很好 (yě zhēnde hěn hǎo) and 也不去 (yě bú qù), 也 goes first and the rest of the sentence follows unchanged.
- English "either" is just with a negative. There is no separate word: 也不 (yě bù) covers "not ... either", and 也没 (yě méi) does the same for things that did not happen.
都 (dōu): all, both, and it looks left
都 (dōu) sums up a group, and the group must already be on its LEFT: a plural subject such as 我们 (wǒmen, we), or two people joined by 跟 (gēn, and). With two people, 都 means "both".
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
。 | Wǒmen dōu xǐhuan kāfēi. | We all like coffee. |
。 | Wǒ gēn tā dōu shì lǎoshī. | He and I are both teachers. |
。 | Tāmen dōu zài Zhōngguó. | They are all in China. |
。 | Nǐmen míngtiān dōu qù. | You are all going tomorrow. |
This is the single most useful thing to know about 都 (dōu): in a statement it does not reach forward to sum up something after the verb. English "we like all of it" puts "all" with the object; Mandarin moves the thing being summed up to the left of 都 instead. So "I like all of them" is 他们我都喜欢 (tāmen wǒ dōu xǐhuan), with 他们 (tāmen, them) moved to the front.
Both at once: 也都 (yě dōu), never 都也
When a sentence needs "too" and "all" together, both adverbs go in the slot and 也 (yě) comes first.
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
。 | Wǒmen yě dōu xǐhuan kāfēi. | We all like coffee too. |
。 | Tāmen yě dōu shì lǎoshī. | They are all teachers too. |
。 | Wǒmen yě dōu xiǎng qù Zhōngguó. | We all want to go to China too. |
A way to remember it: 也 (yě) links the whole sentence back to something said earlier, so it stands outermost, and 都 (dōu) stays next to the verb.
Negatives: 也不 (yě bù), and 都不 vs 不都
也 (yě) always comes before 不 (bù): 我也不去 (wǒ yě bú qù, I am not going either). With 都 (dōu), the order of 都 and 不 changes the meaning, and the rule is simply that you read it left to right.
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
。 | Wǒmen dōu bú shì lǎoshī. | None of us is a teacher. |
。 | Wǒmen bù dōu shì lǎoshī. | Not all of us are teachers. |
都不 (dōu bù) is "all + not": every one of us is not a teacher, so nobody is. 不都 (bù dōu) is "not + all": it denies that the whole group is, so some are and some are not. Note the tones too: 不 becomes bú before the fourth-tone 是 (shì), but stays bù before the first-tone 都 (dōu).
Mistakes English speakers make
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
。 | 。 (wǒ yě xǐhuan kāfēi) | (yě) never ends a sentence |
。 | 。 (wǒ yě qù) | (yě) never comes before the subject |
。 | 。 (wǒmen dōu xǐhuan kāfēi) | (dōu) goes before the verb |
。 | 。 (wǒmen dōu qù) | (dōu) sums up what is on its left |
。 | 。 (wǒmen yě dōu qù) | (yě) comes before (dōu) |
。 | 。 (wǒ yě bú qù) | (yě) comes before (bù) |
Every one of these comes from the same habit: putting the word where English puts "too" or "all". The fix is the same each time. Find the verb, and put 也 (yě) or 都 (dōu) directly in front of it, behind the subject.
也 (yě) and 都 (dōu) are on the AQA GCSE Chinese specification at Foundation and Higher tier, among the adverbs a candidate is expected to use.
Going further
- Even: 连...都 for the B1 pattern where 都 (dōu) and 也 (yě) close the "even" frame.
- Conjunctions for 也...也 (yě...yě), "both ... and".
- Negation: 不 vs 没 for when 也不 (yě bù) becomes 也没 (yě méi).
- Word order for where every other adverb sits.
What to do next
- Say three things you like, then add 也 (yě): 我也喜欢咖啡 (wǒ yě xǐhuan kāfēi).
- Turn each into a group sentence with 我们都 (wǒmen dōu).
- Do the drill below until 也都 (yě dōu) comes out in that order without thinking.