Đều and Distributed Predication

Đều says that one predicate applies across all members of an already established set: Hai chị em đều làm ở bệnh viện means “Both sisters work at a hospital.” It normally comes after the plural or quantified subject and before the shared predicate. Unlike English every, đều is not a determiner placed before a noun.

The construction separates two jobs. A subject expression identifies the set—họ, mọi người, ba cửa hàng, những cuốn này—and đều distributes the following property, action, or relation over its members. This page focuses on that predicate-level operation. Interrogative-based forms such as ai cũng and gì cũng, which build universal or free-choice meanings differently, belong on Ai Cũng, Gì Cũng, and Free-Choice Patterns.

The core position

Use plural/quantified subject + đều + predicate:

In each sentence, the set is recoverable before đều appears. The claim is member-wise: each shop closes at nine, each of the two people likes cooking, and each document is online. Vietnamese does not change the verb for plural agreement.

This gives a useful decision aid:

Combining đều with noun-phrase quantifiers

Mọi, mỗi, and từng can establish a quantified subject, while đều confirms that the predicate holds throughout that subject. The combinations differ in emphasis.

With mọi, the sentence stresses exhaustive coverage. With mỗi, it presents a right separately possessed by every member. With từng, it foregrounds the individual details and the thoroughness of the checking. In many positive clauses, đều can be omitted without making the result ungrammatical, but its presence makes distributed scope explicit and often sounds more balanced.

Pronouns and coordinated subjects especially benefit from đều, because no pre-nominal quantifier already signals universality:

Here đã follows đều because đều scopes over the completed predicate đã nhận được thư. Topic and discourse particles may alter the surface sequence, but the reliable learner pattern remains subject–đều–predicate.

Distributed versus collective readings

Some predicates can apply to members separately; others naturally describe a group acting together. Đều favors the distributed reading.

The first normally gives four carrying relations, potentially with four chairs. The second uses cùng and a shared object to create a collective event. Bốn người đều khiêng một cái bàn is possible in a context where each person separately carries a table, but it is a poor choice for four people jointly carrying the same table.

Cả and đều can co-occur: Cả ba người đều đến means “All three people came.” Cả ba người fixes the total set; đều distributes coming across its members. With a genuinely collective predicate, cả nhóm cùng nâng chiếc bàn better expresses joint action.

Scope with negation

Putting a negative predicate after đều usually gives a universal negative: Họ đều không ăn thịt means each of them does not eat meat—none of them does. It does not mean merely “not all of them eat meat.”

To preserve exceptions, put negation outside the universal claim with không phải…đều…, or use không phải ai cũng…:

This scope contrast matters in rules, surveys, and (formal) reports. A misplaced negative can turn “some exceptions exist” into “every member has the negative property.”

Đều with comparison and degree

Comparison words remain inside the distributed predicate. Hơn introduces a standard, nhất marks an extreme within a relevant set, bằng expresses equality, and kém places something lower on a scale. Đều simply sends that whole comparison back over every subject member.

The standard has scope inside each distributed comparison: route one is faster than walking and route two is faster than walking. The second sentence uses kém hiệu quả hơn in the established compound comparison “less effective than”; do not generalize this ordering to every adjective without checking natural usage.

If hai kết quả bằng nhau, the relation is between two results rather than a predicate independently true of each. Hai kết quả đều bằng mức chuẩn distributes “equal to the standard” over both results. Similarly, đẹp nhất lớp selects one maximum and normally resists plural đều unless ties or separate comparison domains are stated.

Vietnamese keeps adjective forms stable throughout: cao does not inflect for comparative degree or plural subjects. Predicate syntax, paired constructions, and scope words do the grammatical work.

Dialogue: who shares the property?

Cả hai đều sáng hơn says the comparative predicate holds of each apartment. Without đều, cả hai sáng hơn remains understandable, but the distributed reading is less explicitly signposted. Nhất then ranks one apartment at the top for quietness, and cũng adds a further property; cũng is not interchangeable with đều here.

Common Mistakes

1. Placing đều before the noun like English every

Mọi builds the noun phrase; đều distributes the requirement after it.

2. Adding a copula before a property

Vietnamese property predicates do not require an English-style be.

3. Translating than as another hơn

One hơn directly precedes the comparison standard.

4. Confusing đều and cũng

Use đều when the core assertion is that every member of the named set shares the predicate.

5. Reversing negation scope

The repair places negation outside the universal statement, leaving room for some people to agree.

Key Takeaways

• Put đều after an established plural or quantified subject and before the shared predicate.
• Mọi/mỗi/từng shape a noun phrase; đều distributes a predicate over its members.
• Use cùng, not đều, to foreground joint participation in one collective event.
• Đều không normally gives a universal negative; không phải…đều… means “not all.”
• Comparison remains inside the distributed predicate, with no adjective inflection and no added copula.