连...都/也 (lián... dōu/yě) — 连 lián ... 都/也 — "even" emphasis

连...都/也 means "even": 连孩子都会 ("even a child can do it"). 连 highlights an extreme case; the predicate after 都/也 then applies to everything else a fortiori. 都 pairs with affirmative predicates, 也 often with negatives: 连他也没来 ("even he didn't come"). The 连 phrase sits right before the predicate, and the verb must be negated with 没/不, never with 别 in this pattern.

emphasisHSK 4Difficulty 50

Where it goes

连 + Extreme Case + (Subject) + 都/也 + Predicate

What it does

01Emphasizes the extreme case to imply everything else is also true
02连...都 for affirmative claims, 连...也 common with negatives
03The extreme case is usually the least expected one (child, expert, closest friend)

Common learner errors

⚠Forgetting 都/也: 连孩子不会 ❌ → 连孩子都不会 ✅
⚠Wrong negation word in negative patterns (use 没/不, not 别)
⚠Putting 连 after the subject it modifies ❌ — 连 comes before the extreme-case noun phrase

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连...都/也 (lián... dōu/yě) — 连 lián ... 都/也 — "even" emphasis