大都 dàdū mostly; for the most part
Dadu, capital of China during the Yuan Dynasty (1280-1368), modern day Beijing; for the most part; on the whole; metropolitan
How to remember 大都: 大 big + 都 all = mostly; for the most part.
Characters
How it is used
- Read dàdū here = 'mostly / for the most part': 这些书大都是旧的 (zhèxiē shū dàdū shì jiù de) these books are mostly old.
- Essentially the same as 大多 (dàduō); note the reading dàdū, distinct from 大都市 (dàdūshì, metropolis) and from the historical capital Dàdū.
- Adverbial before the predicate.