除了…以外，都… (Except For) | Chinese (Mandarin) Grammar

English "except" is a clean, single-minded word: it carves one item out of a group and says nothing more. 除了 (chúle) is not so simple. It is a two-faced connective — depending on what appears in the second clause, it can either exclude an item ("except for X…") or add one ("besides X…"). This page is about the exclusion face, the one that pairs with 都 (dōu). The rule that keeps you safe is short: when the main clause has 都, 除了 means "everything but the named item." Learn to read the 都 as your signal and you will never mix the two up.

The frame: 除了 X (以外)，… 都 …

The full shape is:

除了 + [the excluded item] + （以外），… + 都 + predicate.

除了 introduces the one thing left out; 都 in the main clause sweeps up everyone or everything else. The 都 is doing its usual job — "all" — but the 除了 phrase has quietly removed one member from the set it ranges over.

除了小王以外，我们都到了。

chúle Xiǎo Wáng yǐwài, wǒmen dōu dào le

Except for Xiao Wang, we've all arrived. (neutral) — 都 covers everyone but him.

除了周日，我每天都得上班。

chúle zhōurì, wǒ měitiān dōu děi shàngbān

Except Sunday, I have to work every day. (informal) — the excluded item can be a time.

以外 and 之外 are optional

The 以外 (yǐwài) "outside of" that closes the 除了 phrase is a convenience, not a requirement. You can keep it, swap it for the slightly more written 之外 (zhīwài), or drop it entirely — the meaning is identical. In casual speech people very often leave it off.

Form	Register
除了他，我们都去。	neutral / colloquial — bare 除了
除了他以外，我们都去。	neutral — the everyday full form
除了他之外，我们都去。	slightly more formal / written

这些菜除了这个太辣，别的我都爱吃。

zhèxiē cài chúle zhège tài là, biéde wǒ dōu ài chī

Of these dishes, except this one that's too spicy, I love all the others. (informal) — no 以外, and 别的 'the others' reinforces the exclusion.

Excluding people, times, or things

The item carved out can be anything — a person, a day, a dish, a topic. What stays constant is the 都 gathering up the remainder.

除了英语，他别的外语都不会。

chúle Yīngyǔ, tā biéde wàiyǔ dōu bú huì

Apart from English, he doesn't know any other foreign language. (neutral) — i.e. English is the only one he knows.

除了下雨天，我一般都走路上班。

chúle xiàyǔtiān, wǒ yìbān dōu zǒulù shàngbān

Except on rainy days, I usually walk to work. (informal)

这道题除了最后一步，我都懂。

zhè dào tí chúle zuìhòu yí bù, wǒ dōu dǒng

For this problem, except the last step, I understand all of it. (neutral)

The 都 pairs with 谁都 / 什么都 for "nobody / nothing else"

When the leftover set is a person or thing, Chinese often reinforces the exclusion with a question-word-plus-都: 谁都 (shéi dōu) "everyone / anyone," 什么都 (shénme dōu) "everything / anything." Under negation these become "nobody / nothing," and the 除了 phrase names the sole exception.

我们班除了他，谁都没去过北京。

wǒmen bān chúle tā, shéi dōu méi qùguo Běijīng

In our class, apart from him, nobody has been to Beijing. (neutral) — he is the one exception.

除了睡觉，他什么都不想做。

chúle shuìjiào, tā shénme dōu bù xiǎng zuò

Apart from sleeping, he doesn't want to do anything. (informal)

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The 都 in these sentences is the same 都 you meet under 都 and its scope: it quantifies over everything to its left. That is exactly why the excluded item (removed by 除了) has to be named before the 都 — you subtract it from the set first, then 都 totals up what's left.

The tell: 都 excludes, 还/也 adds

Here is the fork in the road. Keep the very same 除了 opening and change only the main-clause adverb, and the meaning flips:

Sentence	Main-clause word	Meaning
除了中文，我都不会。	都 (exclude)	Except Chinese, I know none — i.e. Chinese is all I know.
除了中文，我还会日语。	还 (add)	Besides Chinese, I also know Japanese.

Same first clause, opposite worlds. This page is the 都 (exclusion) branch; the 还/也 (addition) branch lives on 除了…还… (besides / in addition). Read the second-clause word and you always know which one you're looking at.

Common Mistakes

1. Using 还/也 when you mean "except." Reaching for 还 flips your sentence into "besides," the exact opposite meaning. Exclusion needs 都.

❌ 除了他，我们还去。

Wrong meaning — 还 says 'besides him we're also going', not 'except him'. Use 都: 除了他，我们都去.

✅ 除了他，我们都去。

chúle tā, wǒmen dōu qù

Except for him, we're all going. — 都 delivers the exclusion.

2. Forgetting the 都 altogether. Without the 都, there is nothing to sweep up "everyone else," and the exclusion reading falls apart.

❌ 除了周日，我每天上班。

Incomplete — the exclusion frame needs 都: 除了周日，我每天都上班.

✅ 除了周日，我每天都上班。

chúle zhōurì, wǒ měitiān dōu shàngbān

Except Sunday, I work every day. — 都 anchors 'every day (else)'.

3. Putting the 都 before the excluded item. The subtraction has to happen first: name what's left out, then let 都 total the rest.

❌ 我们都除了小王到了。

Order is wrong — 除了 + the excluded item comes first: 除了小王，我们都到了.

✅ 除了小王，我们都到了。

chúle Xiǎo Wáng, wǒmen dōu dào le

Except for Xiao Wang, we've all arrived.

4. Doubling up with English "but". 除了 already carries the "except"; don't add a stray 但是 (but) as if translating "except… but…".

❌ 除了他以外，但是我们都去。

Redundant — 除了…都 needs no 但是: 除了他以外，我们都去.

✅ 除了他以外，我们都去。

chúle tā yǐwài, wǒmen dōu qù

Except for him, we're all going.

Key Takeaways

除了 X（以外），… 都 … = "except for X, everyone/everything else …" — pure exclusion.
The 都 is the tell: it means the main clause covers everyone but the named item.
以外 / 之外 are optional (之外 a touch more formal); the bare 除了 is fully colloquial.
The excluded item can be a person, a time, or a thing, and often pairs with 谁都/什么都 for "nobody/nothing else."
Change the second-clause word and the meaning flips: 都 excludes, 还/也 adds — always read that word.

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