大家 (dàjiā) means "everyone / everybody," but its flavor is very specific and worth getting right. Literally "big family," it refers to everyone within a defined group — the people the speaker is talking to, or the group the speaker belongs to. It is the word you use to greet a room, thank a crowd, or rally a team. It is not an abstract, philosophical "everyone in the universe"; for that, Chinese reaches for other words. Think of 大家 as "all of us here" — a warm, inclusive, in-group everyone.
Addressing a group: 大家好
The most common place you'll meet 大家 is in direct address. Standing in front of people — a class, an audience, a group chat — 大家 is how you say "everybody."
大家好，我叫李明。
dàjiā hǎo, wǒ jiào Lǐ Míng
Hello everyone, I'm Li Ming. (neutral) — the standard opener to a group; 大家 = the people in front of you.
谢谢大家！
xièxie dàjiā
Thank you, everyone! (neutral) — 大家 as the object of thanks; you're thanking the assembled group.
大家有什么问题吗？
dàjiā yǒu shénme wèntí ma
Does anyone have any questions? (neutral) — asking the whole group; 大家 addresses them collectively.
The natural partner: 都
Because 大家 names a whole group, it very often pairs with the adverb 都 (dōu, "all"), which sums over that group. 大家都 — "everyone, all of them" — is one of the most common collocations in the language. The 都 sits before the verb, per its usual position.
大家都来了吗？
dàjiā dōu lái le ma
Has everyone arrived? (informal) — 大家都 = 'everyone, all of them'; 都 quantifies over the group.
这件事大家都知道。
zhè jiàn shì dàjiā dōu zhīdào
Everyone knows about this. (neutral) — the topic comes first, then 大家都知道.
大家一起吃饭吧。
dàjiā yìqǐ chī fàn ba
Let's all have a meal together. (informal) — 一起 ('together') is another frequent partner; the speaker is included.
The link between 大家 and 都 is so natural that leaving out 都 in a sentence like "everyone came" can sound slightly incomplete. For the full logic of how 都 scopes over a group, see the scope of 都.
大家 can be possessed: 大家的
Like a pronoun or noun, 大家 takes 的 to become possessive — "everyone's."
这是大家的决定，不是我一个人的。
zhè shì dàjiā de juédìng, bú shì wǒ yí ge rén de
This is everyone's decision, not just mine. (neutral) — 大家的 = 'everyone's'; note the parallel 我一个人的 'just mine'.
我想听听大家的意见。
wǒ xiǎng tīngting dàjiā de yìjiàn
I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts. (neutral) — 大家的意见 = 'everyone's opinions'.
大家 vs 每个人 vs 所有人 vs 人人
This is where precision pays off. English "everyone / everybody" collapses several distinct Chinese ideas. Choosing the right one is about how you're viewing the people — as a warm collective, as separate individuals, or as a total set.
| Word | Nuance | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| 大家 (dàjiā) | everyone in our group; warm, inclusive; speaker often included | addressing / rallying a present group |
| 每个人 (měi ge rén) | each person, one by one (distributive) | when the individuals, separately, matter |
| 所有人 (suǒyǒu rén) | all people, the total set; more neutral/formal | rules, announcements, impersonal statements |
| 人人 (rénrén) | everyone (each and all); slightly literary | generalizations, proverbs, slogans |
The difference is real and audible to natives. 大家 warmly gathers a present group; 每个人 zooms in on individuals separately; 所有人 states a total, often coldly or officially; 人人 generalizes across humanity.
每个人都有自己的想法。
měi ge rén dōu yǒu zìjǐ de xiǎngfǎ
Each person has their own ideas. (neutral) — 每个人 highlights individuals one by one; 大家 would blur them into a group.
所有人都必须遵守规定。
suǒyǒu rén dōu bìxū zūnshǒu guīdìng
Everyone must follow the rules. (formal) — 所有人 states a total set impersonally; fitting for a regulation.
人人都想过上好日子。
rénrén dōu xiǎng guò shàng hǎo rìzi
Everyone wants a good life. (neutral, slightly literary) — 人人 generalizes across people in the abstract.
Notice you could not naturally swap 大家 into that last sentence: "everyone wants a good life" is a statement about humanity, not about the group in front of you, so 大家 would feel wrong. That mismatch is the classic error.
Register: broad and friendly
Unlike 咱们 (which is colloquial and northern — see 我们 vs 咱们), 大家 is register-neutral: perfectly at home in casual chat and in a formal speech opening. A politician, a teacher, a wedding host, and a friend organizing dinner all reach for 大家. Its only real limit is semantic, not stylistic: it needs a definable group.
Common Mistakes
1. Using 大家 for humanity in general. 大家 needs a concrete, present or contextual group; for "everyone / all people" in the abstract, use 每个人 or 人人.
❌ 大家都会死。
Odd — this is a statement about all humans, not a present group; 大家 doesn't fit.
✅ 每个人都会死。
měi ge rén dōu huì sǐ
Everyone dies. — 每个人 (or 人都会死) for a universal truth about individuals.
2. Adding 们 to 大家. 大家 is already a collective; it cannot take the plural suffix.
❌ 大家们好。
Incorrect — 大家 is inherently plural; 们 is redundant and ungrammatical.
✅ 大家好。
dàjiā hǎo
Hello everyone. — 大家 with no 们.
3. Dropping 都 where the group is being summed over. "Everyone came" strongly prefers 大家都.
❌ 大家来了。
Incomplete-sounding for 'everyone came' — to mean 'all of them came', you want the 都.
✅ 大家都来了。
dàjiā dōu lái le
Everyone's here. — 都 sums over the group.
4. Using 每个人 to warmly address a group you're facing. For "hi everyone / thanks everyone," it's 大家, not 每个人.
❌ 每个人好！
Wrong — you don't greet a crowd with the distributive 每个人.
✅ 大家好！
dàjiā hǎo
Hi everyone! — 大家 is the word for addressing a group.
Key Takeaways
- 大家 (dàjiā) is the in-group "everyone" — everybody in the group the speaker addresses or belongs to; warm and inclusive, and the standard word for greeting or thanking a crowd (大家好, 谢谢大家).
- It loves the adverb 都: 大家都 ("everyone, all of them") is a core collocation — see the scope of 都.
- It takes 的 to be possessed (大家的意见) and never takes 们 (it's already collective).
- Contrast it with 每个人 (each person, one by one — see 每 'every'), 所有人 (the total set, more formal), and 人人 (a literary generalization). Use 大家 only when there's a definable group, not for humanity in the abstract.
- 大家 is register-neutral — natural in both casual and formal speech, unlike the colloquial 咱们.
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- 每 (Every) with 都HSK 2 — 每 (měi, 'every/each') takes a measure word like a number — 每个人 (every person), 每本书 (each book) — while bare time nouns like 天 and 年 need none (每天, 每年); its signature is the 每…都 frame, where 都 (dōu, 'all') echoes 每 before the verb: 每个学生都有一本书 ('every student has a book').
- 我们 vs 咱们HSK 2 — Both mean 'we', but 咱们 (zánmen) is specifically inclusive — it always includes the person you're talking to — while 我们 (wǒmen) is neutral and can quietly exclude the listener; Chinese optionally grammaticalizes the 'you're in this too' that English 'we' leaves ambiguous.
- 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').
- The Plural Suffix 们HSK 1 — 们 (men) is Chinese's only plural suffix, and it attaches almost exclusively to people — 我 (wǒ, 'I') → 我们 (wǒmen, 'we'), 朋友 (péngyou, 'friend') → 朋友们 (péngyoumen, 'friends') — but it is optional, it never goes on objects like 书 (shū, 'book'), and it can never sit after a number, because it means 'and company,' not English '-s'.