都, 逐 and 所有: All and Every

01

都 — Before the Verb

都 (dutu) sums up a plural subject that has already been named. It stands before the verb, never before the noun, and it looks back at a subject already given rather than quantifying one.

• 𠊎兜个細人仔同佢兜个細人仔都係學生仔。

  ngaiˇ deuˊ ge se nginˇ eˋ tungˇ giˇ deuˊ ge se nginˇ eˋ du he hog sangˊ eˋngài têu ke se ngìn é thùng kì têu ke se ngìn é tu he ho̍k sâng é

  Our children and their children are all students.

• 毋過吾个同事都當好。

  mˇ go ngaˊ ge tungˇ sii du dongˊ hoˋm̀ ko ngâ ke thùng sṳ tu tông hó

  But my colleagues are all very nice.

• 吾三個細人仔都平大。

  ngaˊ samˊ ge se nginˇ eˋ du piangˇ taingâ sâm ke se ngìn é tu phiàng thai

  My three children are all the same age.

Because it refers back, a sentence needs a plural subject already in place for 都 (dutu) to have anything to gather up.

02

都 for an Extreme Case

The same word marks an all-inclusive or extreme case, giving the force of English even or anything at all.

• 佢麼个事情都做得做。

  giˇ maˋ ge sii qinˇ du zo dedˋ zokì má ke sṳ chhìn tu cho tet cho

  It can do anything at all.

• 都毋靚。

  du mˇ jiangˊtu m̀ chiâng

  It's not even pretty.

• 暗晡頭都係烏个。

  am buˊ teuˇ du he vuˊ geam pû thèu tu he vû ke

  Nights are always dark.

03

逐 — Every, Each

逐 (dagˋtak) stands before a classifier and means every or each, picking out the members of a group one by one. It very often appears together with 都 (dutu) later in the sentence, the two working as a pair.

• 頭家送分𠊎兜逐儕人一罐酒。

  teuˇ gaˊ sung bunˊ ngaiˇ deuˊ dagˋ saˇ nginˇ idˋ gon jiuˋthèu kâ sung pûn ngài têu tak sà ngìn yit kon chiú

  The boss gave each of us a bottle of wine.

• 逐儕人都知這隻問題。

  dagˋ saˇ nginˇ du diˊ iaˋ zagˋ mun tiˇtak sà ngìn tu tî yá chak mun thì

  Everyone knows about this problem.

• 逐隻只愛四百日幣。

  dagˋ zagˋ ziiˋ oi xi bagˋ ngidˋ bitak chak chṳ́ oi si pak ngit pi

  Each one costs only four hundred yen.

04

所有 — All of Them

所有 (soˋ iuˊsó yû) comes before the noun and takes in the whole of a group with nothing left out. It is usually followed by 个 (geke), and it fills the slot that 都 (dutu) cannot, since that word can only stand before a verb.

• 𠊎知佢兜所有个歌仔。

  ngaiˇ diˊ giˇ deuˊ soˋ iuˊ ge goˊ eˋngài tî kì têu só yû ke kô é

  I know all their songs.

• 𠊎好所有个電影。

  ngaiˇ hau soˋ iuˊ ge tien iangˋngài hau só yû ke thien yáng

  I like all movies.

• 𠊎兜个產品解決你所有个問題。

  ngaiˇ deuˊ ge sanˋ pinˋ gieˋ giedˋ nˇ soˋ iuˊ ge mun tiˇngài têu ke sán phín kié kiet ǹ só yû ke mun thì

  Our product solves all your problems.

05

Which Goes Where

所有 (soˋ iuˊsó yû) before the noun; 逐 (dagˋtak) before the classifier; 都 (dutu) before the verb. A sentence may well carry two of them at once, which is not repetition — each is doing its own job in its own position.