Even…: 连……都 / 也

强调 / emphasis

Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral

(Subject) + 连 + extreme case + 都 / 也 + Verb

连……都/也 emphasises an extreme case to show how true something is: "even X…".

Put the surprising element between 连 and 都/也. It can be the subject, the object, or even a verb: 他连饭都没吃 (he didn't even eat), 连孩子都知道 (even kids know).

Very common in the negative with "a single": 连一个字都不认识 (not know a single character).

Examples

我奶奶连微信都会用。
Wǒ nǎinai lián Wēixìn dōu huì yòng.
Even my grandma can use WeChat.
他忙得连电话都没时间打。
Tā máng de lián diànhuà dōu méi shíjiān dǎ.
He's so busy he doesn't even have time to make a call.
这个问题连老师也不知道。
Zhège wèntí lián lǎoshī yě bù zhīdào.
Even the teacher doesn't know the answer to this question.
我手机里连一张照片也没有了。
Wǒ shǒujī lǐ lián yì zhāng zhàopiàn yě méiyǒu le.
There isn't a single photo left on my phone.

Common mistakes

✗ 连他知道。 → 都/也 is missing. ✓ 连他都知道。

✗ 他连都没吃饭。 → the element goes between 连 and 都. ✓ 他连饭都没吃。