什么都

shén me dōu

Expressing "everything" with "shenme dou"

A question word plus 都 stops being a question and becomes "every" or, negated, "not any".

什么 + 都 / 也 + Verb

How it works

爸爸什么都知道 — dad knows everything. 我什么都不想吃 — I don't want to eat anything.

也 can replace 都 in the negative: 我什么也没买.

The same trick works with the other question words — 谁都, 哪儿都, 什么时候都 — which HSK 3 develops further.

Examples

  • bà ba shén me dōu zhī dào

    爸爸什么都知道。

    Dad knows everything.

  • wǒ shén me dōu bù xiǎng chī

    我什么都不想吃。

    I don't want to eat anything.

  • tā shén me yě méi shuō

    他什么也没说。

    He didn't say anything.