也 (yě) is the everyday word for "also / too / as well", and in negatives it becomes "either". Like all Chinese adverbs it obeys the before-the-verb rule: 也 sits after the subject and directly before the verb or adjective. The one thing English speakers must unlearn is the habit of tacking "too" onto the end of the sentence — 也 clamps to the predicate and can never float to the tail.
Where 也 goes
The pattern is rigid: Subject + 也 + Verb/Adjective. Whatever 也 adds, it stays welded to the predicate.
我也去。
wǒ yě qù
I'll go too. (informal) — 也 between 我 and 去.
她也很高。
tā yě hěn gāo
She's tall too. (neutral) — 也 comes before the whole predicate 很高.
我也是。
wǒ yě shì
Me too. / Same here. (informal) — the stock reply, 也 before 是.
Because 也 attaches to the predicate, in the third example it precedes even the linking verb 是. There is no version where 也 comes after the verb. The slot stays put whether the predicate is affirmative, negative, or stacked with 都:
| Pattern | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Subj + 也 + V | 我也去 | I'll go too |
| Subj + 也 + Adj | 她也很高 | she's tall too |
| Subj + 也 + 不/没 + V | 我也不去 | I'm not going either |
| Subj + 也 + 都 + V | 我们也都去 | we all go too |
What 也 adds
也 always means "in addition to something already established". In 我也去, the 也 signals that someone else is going and I'm being added to that group — so what 也 "adds on" is usually the subject. The prior element is inferred from context; if nothing has been said or implied for 也 to build on, the sentence sounds unmotivated.
你去，我也去。
nǐ qù, wǒ yě qù
If you go, I'll go too. (informal) — 我 is added to 你 as another goer.
他会说中文，也会说日文。
tā huì shuō Zhōngwén, yě huì shuō Rìwén
He can speak Chinese, and Japanese too. (neutral) — here 也 adds a second ability within one subject.
我也想喝一杯。
wǒ yě xiǎng hē yì bēi
I'd like a drink too. (informal) — 也 adds me to whoever already wants one.
也 with negation (也不 / 也没)
In negative sentences 也 comes before the negator — 也不 (yě bù), 也没 (yě méi) — and the whole thing translates as English "either". The order is fixed: the negator can never come before 也.
我也不去。
wǒ yě bú qù
I'm not going either. (informal) — 也 before 不 (which drops to bú before the 4th-tone 去).
他也没来。
tā yě méi lái
He didn't come either. (neutral) — 也 before the past-negator 没.
我不喝酒，也不抽烟。
wǒ bù hē jiǔ, yě bù chōu yān
I don't drink, and I don't smoke either. (neutral) — parallel negatives joined by 也.
Parallel clauses and the order with 都
也 shines at building parallels: state one thing, then add a matching one with 也. And when it meets its cousin 都 (dōu) "all", the order is fixed — 也 always precedes 都 (也都), never the reverse.
我喜欢咖啡，也喜欢茶。
wǒ xǐhuan kāfēi, yě xǐhuan chá
I like coffee, and tea too. (informal) — 也 adds a second object across two clauses.
我们也都同意。
wǒmen yě dōu tóngyì
We all agree too. (neutral) — fixed order 也都: 也 first, then 都.
The 都 "all" page covers that word in full, and 还 (hái) "also / in addition", a near-neighbour of 也, gets its own 还 page.
Common Mistakes
1. Trailing 也 at the end, English-style. "Too" ends the English sentence; 也 never does.
❌ 我去也。
Incorrect — 也 cannot sit at the end; it belongs before the verb.
✅ 我也去。
wǒ yě qù
I'll go too. — 也 before 去.
2. Placing 也 before the subject. It follows the subject it adds on.
❌ 也我去。
Incorrect — 也 must come after the subject, not before it.
✅ 我也去。
wǒ yě qù
I'll go too. — subject 我, then 也.
3. Putting the negator before 也. The order is always 也 + 不/没.
❌ 我不也去。
Incorrect — 也 comes before 不, not after.
✅ 我也不去。
wǒ yě bú qù
I'm not going either. — 也不 in the fixed order.
4. Reversing 也 and 都. When both appear it is 也都, never 都也.
❌ 我们都也去。
Incorrect — the fixed order is 也都, so 也 comes first.
✅ 我们也都去。
wǒmen yě dōu qù
We all go too. — 也都 in order.
Key Takeaways
- 也 means "also / too", and "either" in negatives; its slot is Subject + 也 + Verb/Adjective.
- It clamps to the predicate — it can never trail at the end like English "too".
- It always adds on to a prior element (usually the subject), inferred from context.
- In negatives, 也 comes before 不/没: 也不去, 也没来.
- With 都, the fixed order is 也都 (也 first): 我们也都同意.
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- 都 (All/Both) and Backward ScopeHSK 1 — 都 (dōu) means 'all / both' but sums up what comes BEFORE it — the plural thing must precede 都 (我们都去, 这些都很贵) — and its position relative to 不 flips the meaning (都不 'none' vs 不都 'not all').
- 还 (Still / Also / Even More)HSK 2 — 还 (hái) works from one pre-verbal slot to mean 'still' (an ongoing state), 'also / besides' (one more item), and 'even more' (a higher degree) — three English words, one Chinese adverb.
- Ordering Multiple AdverbsHSK 4 — When several adverbials stack before the verb, Chinese follows a stable sequence — Time > 也/都 scope > modal/certainty > place (在…) > manner — so 我们也都常常一起去 lines up scope, frequency, and manner in a fixed order that mirrors English almost backwards.
- Adverbs Go Before the VerbHSK 1 — The cardinal rule of Chinese adverbs: they sit after the subject and before the verb or adjective — 我也去, 他很忙, 我经常运动 — and can never trail at the end of the clause the way English adverbs do.