The adverb of scope 都
In Chinese, 都 (dōu) means “all”, “every one of them”.
Whatever 都 sums up stands before it.
Basic structure
The summed-up part + 都 + verb
Meaning:
all of them …
Negative form
In the negative, the negation comes after 都.
The summed-up part + 都 + 不 / 没 + verb
我们都会写了
我们wǒmenwe
都dōuall of us
会写huì xiěcan write
Here 都 sums up 我们 — all of us.
我和我的朋友们都去
我和我的朋友们wǒ hé wǒ de péngyoumenmy friends and I
都dōuall
去qùgo
Here 都 sums up several people.
同学们都没听见
同学们tóngxuémenthe classmates
都dōuall
没méinegation
听见tīngjiànhear
Here the negation 没 comes after 都.
The rule in short
Affirmative
A + 都 + verb
All of A do …
Example:
我们都会写
Negative
A + 都 + 不 / 没 + verb
None of A does / did …
Example:
同学们都没听见