Basic Grammar: all 87 lessons free
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都……了 — Already?! The Complaining Already
「都……了」— 都十二点了，他还在睡觉
都十二点了，他还在睡觉; 她都三十岁了，还没结婚; 苹果都坏了，不要吃了: 都……了 is 已经 with a sigh — it is already this late, this old, this bad.
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Memory hook
都 + time / age / V / Adj + 了 — already, with a sigh
Already this late
The deck's six, then the working day. Hear the complaint: 都 at the front, 了 at the end, 还 in the second half.
Tap any line to hear it
Already, with a sigh都……了
No pressure — just making it stick.
____十二点了，他还在睡觉。
____ Shí'èrdiǎn le, tā hái zài shuìjiào.
It's already twelve, and he's still asleep.
Which reply follows naturally?
She's already thirty, and still not married.
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
他都退休了，____在工作。
Tā dōu tuìxiū le, ____ Zài gōngzuò.
He's already retired, and still working.
Your turn — say it
都十二点了，你怎么还没睡？
It's already midnight — how come you're still up?
饭都冷了，____吃吧。
Fàn dōu lěng le, ____ Chī ba.
The food's already cold — eat!
Match each 都……了 to its complaint — the deck's own pairs.
Tap a word to fill the next gap; tap a filled sentence to clear it. Every word is used once.
Word bank
0/5Two 都s — in pictures and in sentences两个「都」——看图和辨析
No pressure — just making it stick.
Four scenes from the deck's complaints. Match each picture, then say the 都……了 line.
Tap a picture, then choose its word. Picked wrong? Tap that picture and choose again. Match all the cards to finish.
Your turn — say it
都晚上九点了，还没有下班。
It's already nine at night, and still not off work.
He's already married, and still on Tinder.
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
Which 都 is this?
Which 都 is this?
This lesson's characters
Three from the complaints: retiring, throwing out, and the marriage that came already.
to retreat, to withdraw; to return (goods)
形meaning + sound
The walking radical 辶 with 艮 for the sound: to walk back — to retreat. 退休 is to retire — to withdraw and rest; 退货 is to return goods; 退钱 to refund. 他都退休了，还在工作 — he has walked back from work and keeps walking forward anyway.
to throw, to throw away
形meaning + sound
A hand 扌 and 乃 for the sound: to fling. 扔 is to throw — 扔垃圾, to throw out rubbish, which you met as 乱扔垃圾, littering — and 扔了吧 is 'chuck it': the deck's verdict on the fish. 鱼都臭了，扔了吧.
to tie; to conclude
形meaning + sound
Thread 纟 and 吉, lucky, for the sound: to tie a knot — a lucky one. 结婚 is to tie the marriage knot, 结果 is the result, the fruit at the end, and 结束 is to finish. 她都三十岁了，还没结婚 — the knot the aunts are waiting for; 他都结婚了，还在玩儿Tinder — the knot he seems to have forgotten.
Take these with you
Everything worth taking away. Tap any line to hear it.
Words 生词
Characters 汉字
Before you go课后回顾
- Tell your own 牛马的一天 in three 都……了 sentences, then your 拖延症 in two more. Laugh at the end — the frame is made for that.
- Sort the deck's five 都 sentences into all and already once more, out loud. When you no longer hesitate, the trap is closed.
- Count your alreadys now: 已经 states, 都……了 sighs, 就 says early, 快要 says soon. Time has a whole vocabulary in Chinese, and you own it.