Learn Hardcore Chinese: tā chángcháng zǒucuò, suǒyǐ chūmén yǐqián dōu kàn yíxià dìtú. - She often goes the wrong way, so before going out she always looks at the map.

她常常走错。
常常 (“often”) shows it’s something that happens repeatedly, as a habit.
In this general/habitual context, Chinese usually does not use 了.

Compare:

昨天她走错了。
“Yesterday she went the wrong way.” (one specific completed event, so 了 is natural)
她常常走错。
“She often goes the wrong way.” (general habit, so usually no 了)

So the sentence as given is correct and natural without 了.

What is the difference between 常常, 经常, and 总是? Could I replace 常常 with the others here?

All three relate to frequency, but their nuances differ slightly:

常常 (chángcháng) – often, frequently
Neutral, very common in speech and writing.
经常 (jīngcháng) – often, frequently
Very close to 常常; often a bit more formal or written, but in daily speech they’re mostly interchangeable.
总是 (zǒngshì) – always, invariably
Stronger than “often,” closer to “always / all the time”, often with a hint of complaining or emphasis.

In this sentence:

她常常走错。 – She often goes the wrong way.
她经常走错。 – Very similar meaning; also natural.
她总是走错。 – She always goes the wrong way. (sounds stronger, maybe a bit like “She always gets lost!”)

So yes, you can replace 常常 with 经常 or 总是, but:

经常 ≈ 常常, little change.
总是 makes it sound more extreme and more like a complaint or strong statement.

What does 都 mean in 出门以前都看一下地图? Why “all” if it’s only one person?

都 (dōu) literally means “all,” but here it doesn’t refer to “all people”. Instead, it distributes over repeated occasions.

In context:

她常常走错，所以出门以前都看一下地图。
“She often goes the wrong way, so before going out she always looks at a map.”

You can think of it as:

Every time she goes out (each occasion), she all does this action → she always does it.

So:

都 here ≈ “always / every time” (because it applies to all the times she goes out).

This use of 都 is common:

我上课以前都喝咖啡。
Before class I always drink coffee.
(Literally: “Before class, I all drink coffee.” = on every such occasion)

Why is the subject 她 omitted in the second part 所以出门以前都看一下地图?

In Chinese, when two clauses share the same subject, the subject of the second clause is often dropped to avoid repetition, especially in conversational style.

Full version (more explicit):

她常常走错，所以她出门以前都看一下地图。

Natural spoken/written version:

她常常走错，所以出门以前都看一下地图。

Here, it’s clear from context that the person who “goes the wrong way” and the one who “looks at the map” is the same 她, so repeating 她 isn’t necessary.

This kind of subject omission is very common in Mandarin when the subject is obvious.

What exactly does 出门 mean? How is it different from saying 离开家 or just 出去?

出门 (chūmén) is a very common expression:

Literally: “go out (of the door)”
Typical meaning: “to go out / to leave the house / to go out (somewhere)”

Nuances:

出门
Focuses on leaving where you live or where you currently are, generally to go somewhere.
- 出门上班 – go out (leave home) to work
- 我现在要出门了。 – I’m going out now.
离开家 (líkāi jiā) – “leave home”
Sounds a bit more formal and neutral; could be used for both short-term or long-term leaving, depending on context.
出去 (chūqu/chūqù) – “go out”
More general; doesn’t specifically mention “door” or “home”, just leaving the current place to outside.

In this sentence, 出门以前 nicely means:

“before going out (of the house / going out somewhere)”

You could say:

在出门以前都看一下地图。 – also grammatical and natural.

But 出门 is perfectly standard and idiomatic here.

Why is 以前 placed after 出门 (出门以前)? Could I also say 在出门以前 or 以前出门?

出门以前 is a time phrase meaning “before going out”.

Order: 出门 + 以前
In Chinese, it’s very common to put an action + 以前 to mean “before doing that action”:
- 吃饭以前 – before eating
- 睡觉以前 – before sleeping
- 出门以前 – before going out
Adding 在: 在出门以前
- 在出门以前都看一下地图。 This is also correct. 在 here just marks the time phrase more explicitly.
  Both 出门以前 and 在出门以前 are natural; 在 is optional.
以前出门
以前出门 by itself is ambiguous and usually means “(when I/you/she) used to go out in the past” rather than “before going out (on each occasion)”.
For “before going out (each time)”, 出门以前 is the standard structure.

So in this sentence, 出门以前 (or 在出门以前) is the right pattern.

What does 一下 add in 看一下地图? Could I just say 都看地图?

一下 (yíxià) after a verb adds a sense of:

briefness: do it for a short time
casualness / politeness: makes the action sound lighter and less intense

So:

看一下地图 ≈ “have a quick look at the map / take a look at the map”

If you say:

都看地图。 – “(she) always looks at the map.”

It’s still grammatical, but it sounds a bit more serious or heavy, as if she has to study the map thoroughly every time.

看一下地图 feels more natural for this everyday action, like:

just glancing at it to check the route.

Other similar patterns:

想一想 – think about it (for a bit)
试一下 – try it (briefly)
问一下 – ask (quickly, just one question)

Why is 一下 placed after 看 (看一下地图) and not after 地图 (看地图一下)?

一下 is a verb complement, so it almost always goes directly after the verb, not after the object.

Correct pattern:

看一下 + 地图 – look (briefly) at the map

Incorrect / unnatural:

看地图一下 – sounds wrong in standard Mandarin.

General pattern:

Verb + 一下 + Object
- 问一下老师 – ask the teacher (quickly)
- 试一下衣服 – try on the clothes
- 看一下手机 – take a look at the phone

Why doesn’t 地图 have a measure word here? Shouldn’t it be 一张地图?

Chinese uses measure words when you’re counting or specifying how many of something:

一张地图 (yì zhāng dìtú) – one map
两张地图 – two maps

In this sentence, we’re not saying “one map” or “several maps”; we’re talking about maps in general or “the map” she uses in context. When the number is not important, Chinese can just use the bare noun:

看地图 – look at (the/a) map(s)

So:

都看一下地图。 – She always takes a look at the map.
(No need to say “one map” here.)

Can 所以 be put at the very beginning of the sentence, like 所以她常常走错 …? Would that change the meaning?

Functionally, 所以 (suǒyǐ) connects cause → result:

…，所以… – “…, so … / therefore …”

Typical order:

她常常走错，所以出门以前都看一下地图。
“She often goes the wrong way, so before going out she always checks the map.”

Starting a sentence with 所以 without stating the cause first is usually incomplete or very colloquial:

所以出门以前都看一下地图。
“So (she) always looks at a map before going out.”
– This can appear as a continuation of a previous sentence, in conversation.

But if you write:

所以她常常走错，出门以前都看一下地图。

This sounds odd, because 所以 should introduce the result, not the cause.
Here, “she often goes the wrong way” is actually the cause, and “(she) checks the map” is the result.

So the original order with 所以 in the middle is the natural, standard structure.

Is 常常走错 treated as one phrase? Where can I place 常常 in the sentence?

常常 (chángcháng) is a frequency adverb and it normally goes before the main verb it modifies.

In this clause, the verb is 走错, so the standard position is:

她常常走错。 – She often goes the wrong way.

Other possible placements:

At the very start (topic position):
- 常常，她走错。
  Grammatically possible but sounds a bit unnatural/poetic in everyday speech.
After the subject (most natural in this sentence):
- 她常常走错。 ✅

You wouldn’t normally put 常常 after the verb:

她走错常常。 ❌ (unnatural)

So the given word order 她常常走错 is the normal and most natural one.