Learn Hardcore Chinese: tā de xìnggé gēn wǒ hěn xiàng, dōu bù xǐhuan chǎo de dìfang. - Her personality is very similar to mine; we both don’t like noisy places.

Degree: It really can mean “very”:
“Her personality is very similar to mine.”
Grammar smoother: In Chinese, adjectives and certain verbs that behave like adjectives (like 像 here) usually don’t sit directly after the subject without something before them.
- 她的性格跟我像 ❌ (sounds abrupt/odd)
- 她的性格跟我很像 ✅ (natural)

So 很 both softens the sentence grammatically and can show degree. In casual speech, it often doesn’t sound as strong as English “very”; it’s closer to “quite / really” or sometimes almost just a grammatical marker.

How does 像 (xiàng) work here? Is it a verb or an adjective? What is the pattern?

像 here means “to be like / to resemble / to be similar to”.

The common pattern is:

A 跟 B 很像
A is very similar to B

In this sentence:

A = 她的性格 (her personality)
B = 我 (me)
很像 = is very similar (to)

So structurally:

她的性格（Subject）
跟我（compared with me）
很像（is similar）

像 in this kind of sentence works like a stative verb (similar to an adjective in English). You don’t need an extra “to be” verb like 是 before it.

What is the function of 都 (dōu) in 都不喜欢? Why do we need it?

都 means “all / both” and applies to the subject(s) of the sentence.

Here, 都 refers to 她 and 我 together:

她的性格跟我很像，都不喜欢吵的地方。
Her personality is very similar to mine; (we) both don’t like noisy places.

Even though 我们 (we) isn’t stated, 都 tells us that the statement “not like noisy places” applies to all of the people just talked about (她 and 我).

So the underlying idea is like:

我们都不喜欢吵的地方。
We both don’t like noisy places.

Without 都, it would sound more like just one person (probably 她) doesn’t like noisy places:

她的性格跟我很像，不喜欢吵的地方。
→ Most listeners would read “not liking noisy places” as mainly describing her.

Why can the subject be omitted after the comma? Shouldn’t we say 我们都不喜欢…?

Chinese often omits the subject when it’s obvious from context.

Here, the first part mentions 她 and 我 together through the comparison. When the second part comes, it is clear that the statement refers to the same two people, so the subject can be dropped:

Full form (more explicit):
她的性格跟我很像，我们都不喜欢吵的地方。 ✅
Natural, shorter form (what you have):
她的性格跟我很像，都不喜欢吵的地方。 ✅

Because 都 is present, listeners understand that the implied subject includes at least two people (她 and 我), i.e., “we both”.

What does 吵 (chǎo) mean here? I thought it means “to quarrel” or “to make noise”.

吵 has related but different uses:

Verb: to make noise / to be noisy
- 别吵！Don’t make noise!
Verb: to quarrel / argue
- 他们在吵架。They are quarreling.
Adjective-like (stative): noisy / loud
- 这里太吵了。It’s too noisy here.

In 吵的地方, 吵 is used in the adjective-like sense:
→ noisy places.

So the meaning is: places that are noisy / loud, e.g. crowded bars, busy streets, etc., not “places where people quarrel” (though those could also be called 吵的地方 in context).

What is the role of 的 (de) in 吵的地方?

Here, 的 is a link between a describing word and a noun, similar to “-” or “that/which is” in English.

Pattern: > adjective / description + 的 + noun

In this case:

吵 = noisy
的 = linker
地方 = place

So 吵的地方 literally is “places that are noisy” → noisy places.

Without 的, 吵地方 is ungrammatical in this sense. You almost always need 的 when an adjective (or descriptive phrase) directly modifies a noun like this.

Why is 的 (de) used in both 她的性格 and 吵的地方 if they mean different things?

Chinese uses 的 for several related but different functions. In this sentence you see two:

Possessive 的 (ownership / relation):
- 她的性格 = her personality
  Here, 的 works like English ’s or “of”.
Modifier 的 (description → noun):
- 吵的地方 = noisy place(s)
  Here, 的 links a description (吵) to a noun (地方), like “noisy place” or “place that is noisy”.

Same character 的, but:

before a noun after a pronoun/noun → usually possessive (我的书, 他的车).
after an adjective/phrase describing a quality → modifier 的 (安静的地方, 漂亮的衣服).

Could we say 不都喜欢吵的地方 instead of 都不喜欢吵的地方? What’s the difference between 都不 and 不都?

They mean different things:

都不喜欢 = all / both do not like
- 她和我都不喜欢吵的地方。
  → Neither of us likes noisy places.
不都喜欢 = not all (of them) like
- 她和我不都喜欢吵的地方。
  → It’s not the case that both of us like noisy places.
  (So at least one of us doesn’t like them, but maybe the other does.)

In your sentence, 都不喜欢 is correct, because the meaning is clearly: > We both don’t like noisy places. (neither of us likes them)

How exactly should 地方 (dìfang) be understood here? Is it “place”, “area”, or something else?

地方 literally means “place” or “area”, and can be quite general.

In 吵的地方, it means “places (in general) that are noisy”:

noisy places / noisy environments / loud venues

It doesn’t refer to a specific location unless context makes it specific. It’s a general, countable concept like English “places”:

我不喜欢太吵的地方。
I don’t like places that are too noisy.

How would I say this sentence in a slightly more explicit or standard way?

A more explicit version (especially clear for learners) is:

她的性格跟我很像，我们都不喜欢吵的地方。

Or you can reorder slightly:

我跟她的性格很像，我们都不喜欢吵的地方。
Her personality and mine are very similar; we both don’t like noisy places.

The meaning is essentially the same; adding 我们 just makes the shared subject explicit.

Is this a natural, everyday sentence a native speaker would actually say?

Yes. This sentence is very natural in everyday spoken Mandarin.

It sounds like something you’d say when describing someone you get along with:

她的性格跟我很像，都不喜欢吵的地方。
Her personality is a lot like mine; we both don’t like noisy places.

It’s casual, clear, and idiomatic.