都 must come AFTER the subject it refers to: 我们都去 (we all go), NOT 都我们去. A very common word-order mistake for beginners.
mistakes
Same character, two readings. 都 = adverb 'all/even/already'; 都 = noun 'capital city' as in 首都, 都市. When the word means a city or metropolis, switch to dū.
Right indexing radical — right-side 阝 is a compressed 邑 'walled city.' Distinct from left-side 阝, which represents 阜 'mound.' Puts 都 in the city-and-region family with 邦, 郊, 郡.
Left phonetic 者 — supplies the sound; zhě drifted to dū / dōu, opaque in modern Mandarin but consistent with related city characters. Originally a graph of simmering food or sugarcane, here purely a sound anchor. Kept as a single component since 者 is itself a recognized standalone unit.
