都 (dōu) is a Chinese character meaning “all”. It is written from 者 ("the one who"; a person or thing (as a suffix)) and 阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)), side by side, and takes 10 strokes. It has a second reading, dū, which turns up in 首都 — here the two readings are two separate things to learn, not one card with two answers.
Build the character for “all”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
者 + 阝
Left–right structure
- 者 "the one who"; a person or thing (as a suffix) · zhě sound
- 阝 left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑) · fù meaning
Structure from: 说文解字: 都，有先君之旧宗庙曰都。从邑，者声
Memory aid
Everyone (者, "the one who") living inside the city walls (阝) — all of them, together. This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 全都quán dōuall; without exception都 = dōu
Go deeper
All readings
all; both; already
all; both; entirely; even; already
表示总括，全部；也表示“甚至”或“已经”。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 全都quán dōuall; without exception都 = dōu
capital; metropolis
capital city; metropolis; big city
首都；大城市。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 首都shǒu dūcapital city都 = dū
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 都 mean?
都 (dōu) means all; both; entirely; even; already.
How do you pronounce 都?
Its main reading is dōu. It also has a second reading, dū, which only shows up in certain words such as 首都 — so the word tells you the reading, not the character on its own.
Why is 都 sometimes pronounced dū?
Because it is a multi-reading character: each reading carries a different sense, and the word decides which one applies. In 首都 it is read dū.
What parts is 都 made of?
者 ("the one who"; a person or thing (as a suffix)) and 阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 都，有先君之旧宗庙曰都。从邑，者声. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 都 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 都?
阝. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 都?
Common ones are 全都. The reading of 都 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.