Mnemonic comic for 都

Translation

dōu = d + ou1: all / both / entirely / (used for emphasis) even / already / (not) at all

Mnemonic

A mnemonic is a short, deliberately ridiculous scene, built to be hard to forget. Who appears in it and where it takes place are how the pronunciation is stored; the objects in it stand for the parts the character is written with. That is the Marilyn Method, and the comic below is the same scene, drawn.

Don Quixote (d) grabs the snow globe (都) that the Sun King (者) and the emperor (阝) are fighting over in front of the outhouse (ou1), and shakes it so hard that snow bursts out of it and buries them all (都): knight, king and emperor.

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All translations for 都

都
dū = du + Ø1
surname Du
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都
dōu = d + ou1
all / both / entirely / (used for emphasis) even / already / (not) at all
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都
dū = du + Ø1
capital city / metropolis
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都
dōu = d + ou1
all; both; entirely / (used for emphasis) even / already / (not) at all
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Loading mnemonics…

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How to pronounce 都

MandarinBanana teaches pronunciation with the Marilyn Method: every Pinyin syllable is one initial plus one final, the initial becomes a person, an animal or a deity, and the final becomes a place in your memory palace — with the tone deciding which part of that place the scene happens in. Remember the little story below for each half and the whole syllable comes back with them.

= d initial

D is for Don Quixote.

By Matthias • updated 19 days ago
+ ou1 final

In front of the outhouse.

By Matthias • updated 19 days ago
= du initial

Du is for Doggy Dog.

By Matthias • updated 19 days ago
+ Ø1 final

In front of the space station.

By Matthias • updated 4 months ago

都 character breakdown

Chinese characters are built out of smaller characters. Each component carries a mnemonic symbol - one concrete object that stands in for it - and a mnemonic story hands those objects to the person and the place that stand for the pronunciation. Learn a component once and every character that reuses it gets easier.

Component Translations
者
zhě = zh + e3
(after a verb or adjective) one who (is) ... / (after a noun) person involved in ... / -er / -ist / (used after a number or 後|后[hou4] or 前[qian2] to refer to sth mentioned previously) / (used after a term, to mark a pause before defining the term) / (old) (used at the end of a command) / (old) this
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阝
Character component without intrinsic meaning
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Characters with 都 as component

嘟
嘟
dū = du + Ø1
toot / honk / to pout
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Words with 都

show 181 more
all / without exception
capital (city) / CL:個|个[ge4]
city / metropolis
Sentences with 都
这
zhè
御
yù
马
mǎ
监
jiān
有
yǒu
骏
jùn
马
mǎ
千
qiān
匹
pǐ
 
 
都
dōu
归
guī
你
nǐ
管
guǎn

Want to remember 都 for good?

Make it your learning target and MandarinBanana works out the shortest route to it: the two sounds its syllable is built from, then the components of the character itself, one short step at a time. No account needed to start.

都
dū / dōu

4 translations

Prompt snippets

The snow globe is a clear glass sphere on a round dark-wood base, holding a miniature capital city: a palace with a golden dome, a slender cathedral spire and a small triumphal arch, all dusted with white snow, with flakes drifting in the clear water. The base is plain, without any text.

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